


Heaven is Missing an Angel

by DongLongQua



Category: Life Is Strange
Genre: Chloe Price Stayed at Blackwell, F/F, Game: Life is Strange (2015)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DongLongQua/pseuds/DongLongQua
Summary: Chloe Price, a senior student at Blackwell Academy, has been noticing a mysterious, lonely girl in the Library's study room.One day, her friend, Rachel Amber, cleverly leaves her alone with the girl; Chloe decides to talk to her, neither of them knowing that it will be the start of something else in their lives
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Comments: 26
Kudos: 136





	1. The Girl Across the Room

**Author's Note:**

> Chloe and Rachel are 19 years old.  
> Max is 18 years old. 
> 
> Italicized letters means its text/written.
> 
> Underlined means its dialogue in the speaker's head.

**October 7, 2013.**

In the Blackwell Library's study room, four friends were on the end of an epic campaign to slay the mighty Leviathan, scourge of the Arcadius Sea. 

Steph, the Game Master, Mikey as Elamon the Wizard , Rachel as Aliya the archer, and Chloe as Captain Bluebeard the Rogue Pirate. 

"The Leviathan charges at you, Bluebeard, making one last desperate attempt to kill the invaders of his land." Steph said in her usual Game Master's voice. 

Chloe smiles, "I aim my gun at his head, square between the eyes-" before she could finish, Mikey interrupts her. 

"I cast True Aim on Captain Bluebeard's flintlock pistol!"

"Thanks Elamon!" 

Steph grabs the D20 die, "normally you'd need a 20 to hit the Leviathan between the eyes but with true aim cast on your gun, you'll need 16 or higher." She shakes her hand, shuffling the die inside. A moment of suspense was felt through the room as the die rolled on the table and then-,

"18" 

"Fuck yeah!" Chloe shouted. 

"Nice one, Captain," said Rachel as she high fives Chloe. 

"The enchanted bullet from Bluebeard's gun hits the Leviathan between the eyes, piercing its skull and damaging it's brain, finally killing it." Steph said again in her usual GM voice. 

"Fuck. Yes!" Chloe celebrated. "Let's search the Leviathan's treasure, Elamon!" She added. 

"Alright." Mikey replied. 

"You search the Leviathan's treasure. All the gold and gems you'll ever need in a lifetime is right in front of you, but in the distance, you spot the most sacred of his treasures: the stone of resurrection. 

“Nice! Now we can resurrect Aliya!” Mikey exclaimed. 

“Yes. We’ll do it next time though. We really should head back before class starts.” Chloe commented after looking at the clock on her phone.

“Damn, I really thought I was going to lose by hundred hour character. Almost made me sad.” said Rachel. 

"Yeah, so next time, don't charge in the enemy's face without a plan." Chloe said while she was laughing. 

"I can't help it. When I see my friend in pain or in trouble, I'd rush in to help her, no matter what." Rachel flirtingly said. 

"Here they go again." Mikey took his stuff and headed out the room. 

"We'll go on ahead then." Steph followed after Mikey. 

"Just give me a minute to grab my shit." Chloe's stuff was a mess and she wasn't very fast in cleaning it up. 

"I'll wait for you at the entrance." Rachel said with a smile as she went out of the room. 

Chloe grabbed her stuff and one by one put it in her old, tattered backpack. As she was about to leave, she noticed a girl sitting alone in another table. She had brown hair, was wearing earphones and reading a book. 

'It's that lonely girl again. She's always here or in front of the fountain reading a book. Hope we weren't too loud.' She thought. But nevertheless, they went about their own businesses.

* * *

**October 8, 2013**

Same time and place as yesterday, Chloe and Rachel were studying for the first test of their senior school year. And after studying for an hour, they were exhausted. 

"I hate chemistry." Rachel commented as she sank on her chair. 

"It's actually pretty easy once you get the rhythm of it." Chloe replied. 

"Well it seems that I can't get the rhythm of it." She flips her book closed. 

"Well, well, well. Looks like I finally found something the Junkyard Queen can't handle." Chloe teased. 

"Oh please. If we were to list down the things we can't handle, I'd respectfully and rightfully hand you over the crown." Rachel fired back. 

The two laughed at each other. Then, Chloe once again noticed the girl from yesterday, still doing the same thing, in the same place. She finally got curious and asked Rachel in a low voice.

"Hey, that girl behind you, on the other table-."

Rachel slightly glanced over.

"-what's up with her?" 

"Hmm. I think she's a junior and a transfer student from Seattle." Rachel replied, also with a low voice. 

"Huh." was all that Chloe said while looking at the girl with curiosity. 

Rachel gets in the mood and asks her: "What? You got a crush on her or something?"

Chloe blushed. She tried to hide it with her hand and replied: "No, you idiot. I was just wondering why she doesn't have any friends. Kinda sad to be alone like that all the time." 

"Chloe, it's her first month in a new school. How many friends did you have during your first month?"

"Uh, Justin and I became friends within the first week. And you and I became friends after just three days, if I remember correctly." Chloe bragged. 

"Well then Ms. Friend-maker, why don't you become her first friend?" Rachel suggested with a slight tone of flirting. 

Chloe blushed again. "Well, I don't think that her first friend is supposed to be a senior."

"Oh, I didn't know that there was an age cap in being a friend." 

"You know what I mean; she should be hanging out with fellow juniors not old farts like us." 

Rachel smiled and said: "Didn't know you were into shy girls, Price."

This made Chloe blush even more. 

"Wha-? I-I'm not! She's not-!"

But suddenly-

RRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG!!!!!

"Literally saved by the bell." Rachel said teasingly.

"W-whatever. Let's just go to Chem class." Chloe stormed out of the room. 

Rachel ran to her and teased her further. 

"Hehe. Chloe has a cru~sh."

"Shut up." 

* * *

**October 9, 2013**

After waiting for 5 minutes in the study room, Chloe finally got bored and texted Rachel.

" _Rachel, where are you?_ "

" _Sorry. Had to bounce home. Feeling a bit under the weather._ "

'Liar.' She thought to herself. 

" _You sure you didn't bail on me so that I'll be alone with this girl?_ " 

" _How could I have possibly known that she would be there?_ "

";)"

" _You're hella dead tomorrow_."

" _Also_ "

" _NO EMOJI!"_

Chloe let out a heavy sigh. She looks at the girl at the other table, still looking and doing the same thing. 

'She does look kinda cool, just silently shutting the world out.' After a moment of calm, she shook her head. 'No. Stop daydreaming. Just get off your ass and talk to her. You've done this before.'

She got up and nonchalantly pulled up a chair beside her (diagonally). The girl immediately took off her earphones, raised her head and looked at the smiling blue haired girl that sat beside her. 

Chloe's eyes widened. She saw the girl's face, her dazzling blue eyes, voluptuous lips, and her lovely freckles. 

'HOLY SHIT, SHE'S CUTE!' Chloe screams internally. 

"Yes? Can I help you?" The girl asked innocently. 

"Hi." Is all she said while smiling really awkwardly. 

'Damn it, Price, get it together!' She ordered herself. 

"Hi?" The girl shyly replied.

"Yeah uh, my Chloe is name- ah- I mean, my name is C-Chloe, Chloe Price."


	2. Are you Cereal?

"Hello, I'm Max-, Max Caulfield." she said shyly. 

"Caulfield? You, uh, have Irish descendants?" Chloe asked, just trying to keep the conversation going. 

' What the fuck, Price? Next thing you're going to ask is if the weather is nice! ' She scolded herself internally. 

"I’m sorry?." Max replied. "Did you need... something?"

"Ha. Yes. I am... inviting you to lunch? Two Whales Diner. My treat!" Chloe almost shouted her invitation but thankfully it was just awkwardly loud. 

"Oh. Um. Why?" Max genuinely asked.

"Well my friend bailed on me today and it's um hella boring to eat alone so, I thought, since we're both alone right now, I uh-". 

Max closed her book and gently said: "Okay."

"Look I get it if you don't want to- oh. You said okay? Yeah. Haha. Great! Let's go now!" Chloe said with the biggest smile and the reddest blush ever. 

...

When they got in the parking lot, they were standing in front of an old and rusty, yellow-ish 1980's Ford F-150. 

"Well, this is my ride!” Chloe exclaimed while doing jazz hands, “Fixed her up myself." 

"Wowsers." Max smiled as she inspected the truck. 

"Come on, you can be honest and say that it looks like crap." She joked. 

Max shook her head. "No, it's actually awesome. I can see the hard work you poured into it; how it reflects your personality. I can never call that crap."

Chloe blushed again that at this point, her face might as well be red. ' Nice. She likes it! Do I like the fact that she likes it? I’m not sure anymore. ' "Glad you liked it." She said with a smile. 

Max blushed and turned her head to hide it. "Does it have a name?" 

"Well, no- actually I never thought of giving it one." She admitted. "Any ideas?"

"You sure you want me to name your truck?" 

"Only if it's a cool name." 

"Alright, let me think about it." 

They two hopped inside and headed for Two Whales. 

* * *

10 minutes later, they got to Two Whales Diner. They sat in Chloe (and Rachel's) favorite spot in the diner: the second to the last table near the jukebox. 

"So I don't know if you know this, but I’m actually like the sheriff of this place." Chloe bragged. 

"Really?" Max was genuinely surprised.

"Nah man, my mom has been working here for 20 years and I get free meals from time to time." She turns her head to see someone approaching them. "Speak of the devil."

Joyce approached the two holding a tray with two plates of food, one with eggs and bacon and one with waffles. She was expecting Rachel and Chloe, but instead-. 

"Well, this is a surprise. No Rachel today?" Joyce asked. 

"No, she had to go home since she wasn’t feeling so good."

"I see. Well I hope she gets better. So, aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

Max blushed when she heard Joyce call her ‘Chloe's friend’. 

"Yeah, totally. Mom, this is Max. Max, this is Joyce, my mom."

"Uhm. H-hi. It's nice to meet you." Max said in her usual shy voice. 

"It's a pleasure." Joyce replied professionally. "So what are you having, Max? Eggs and bacon or Waffles? It's on the house."

"Oh, uh Waffles sounds nice." 

"Alright." Joyce puts the eggs and bacon in front of Chloe and Waffles in front of Max. "Enjoy your meal, girls."

"Thanks, Mom!" Chloe said with a smile. 

"Your mom is super cool." Max commented. 

"Yes, she is. And her bacon tastes so good!" 

"And her Waffles too." Max replied after taking a small bite of the waffle. 

They laugh together while eating. 

Joyce was watching them from the back of the kitchen. She smiles and even teared up a little. She's never seen Chloe so happy like that ever since... William died. She wipes her tears and gets back to work. 

While eating, Max broke the silence between them. 

"So, what are we doing, exactly?" 

"Hanging out?" 

"It's just- I meant-,why me?" 

"Well, as I've said before, I wanted some company." 

"That's it?" Max asked slightly disappointed.

"What, hanging out with me isn't fun?" Chloe replied. 

"It's pretty awesome so far." Max smiled. 

Chloe's heart starts beating a mile a minute. ' Damn it! That smile. That genuine smile of happiness. It's killing meee! ' She smiles "Well that's good to hear." 

"So, um- if you don't mind, what's your relationship with Rachel Amber?" Max suddenly asked.

Chloe can see that [Max] was blushing, embarrassed even, that she asked that. Finally, she can get the upper hand. She grins teasingly "Woah. Where is this coming from?"

Max panics a little "Ah- that's not what I meant! It's just, you guys are always together in and out of school and even between you two, you have a lot of cool friends. So-" 

"Hey, just teasing; Rachel and I, we’re- we're hella friends." Chloe exclaimed.

"Why do you keep saying hella?" She asked curiously. 

"You don't like it?"

"N-no. It's just that the only people I’ve ever heard say that were you and Rachel." 

"Hmmm. You're pretty observant." 

"I kinda have to be if I want to be a photographer." 

"You want to be a photographer? That's so cool! You know, Rachel wants to be a model! Yeah! You two should totally meet!" Chloe's mannerisms were that of an excited kid. “And you know what, while you're at it, you should meet Mikey, Drew, and Steph!"

And as if she had an epiphany, "Dude! You should totally play a tabletop campaign with us!"

"Wha- that's- I don't even know how-". Max tried to argue but Chloe was having none of it. 

"Dude, it's super easy to learn, I got the gist in about 5 minutes during my first time!" 

"Still, don't you need like a character sheet and stuff for-". Again Max tried to rebut and again Chloe was having none of it. 

"Psshh. I'll ask Steph to make you a character! Nothing too complex, probably a standard knight or something." 

Max was getting embarrassed since the customers were looking at them. But she saw Chloe's ear to ear smile and she just couldn't say no to someone that enthusiastic.

"I-I guess I'll give it a shot." Max shyly agreed.

"Awesomesauce! Don't worry, I'll teach you everything you need to know." 

Joyce then went to their table again. "Girls, it's getting late. Chloe, why don't you drop off Max to her home?"

"Oh, I live in the dorms." Max replied. 

"Well, in that case, Chloe, I'm sure you can handle that."

"On it, mom." She grabs her keys."Let's bounce, Max." 

* * *

As they left the diner, Max asked Chloe a question:

"Hey, do you mind if I take a picture of your truck?"

"Of course not! Take as many as you want." 

Max whipped out her Black and Yellow Job Pro 600 Polaroid Camera. 

"Woah. Retro alert." Chloe commented. 

Max snaps a photo, she takes the Polaroid and puts it in her pocket. 

"Aren't you supposed to shake it?" Chloe asked. 

Max laughs softly, "That's just a myth."

Suddenly, tires screeched and an engine roared. A red truck appeared out of nowhere and was on a path to hit Max. 

"MAX!" Chloe shouted as she pulled her back hard, causing them to both fall over. Chloe looked at the red truck that almost hit them: it had a broken tail light and the plate was SXFTNDR.

"Max, you OK? Sorry I pulled you so hard." Chloe offered her hand, which Max took. 

"I'll be dead if you didn't so- thank you, Chloe." Max hugged her tightly. She could feel Chloe's heart thumping on her chest. 

Chloe too, felt Max's beating heart; unsure if it was from the adrenaline or the fact that they're hugging or both. 

'Please let me stay in this moment a little longer. ' She begged the universe, but soon enough, Max ended the hug. 

She looked inside her bag and her heart sank with the image she saw: Her camera was broken. 

"Oh man, are you cereal?" She groaned. 

"Fuck. I'm sorry, Max." Chloe felt really bad, thinking it was her fault that Max's camera was broken.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault." Max assured her. 

"Shit. Maybe you can fix it at my place." She suggested. 

"I need specific tools to fix this." Max was inspecting the damage on her camera, she knew it wasn't going to be an easy fix, if it's even possible. 

"Well you're in luck, my step-douche has a ton of tools in the garage." Chloe got inside her truck. Max followed suit. 

"I need very specific tiny tools." Max emphasized.

"Nerd alert. Don't worry, David has a lot of tiny tools because he's one himself." Chloe joked. 

"I-I’m-, how can I ever repay you?"

Chloe smiled. "We're friends. We don't keep tabs. We help each other out, no matter what."

Max wanted to cry, what did she do to deserve someone like Chloe, she wondered. 

"You're... hella amazing, Chloe." Max struggled as she was still getting used to saying the word.

Chloe gave Max a loving look with a huge smile on her face, "And you're hella interesting, Max Caulfield."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 :) currently editing Chapter 3. 
> 
> I'm going to divide this story with "arcs" comprised of at least 4 chapters each. 
> 
> Chapters 1-4 is called "The Study Room Arc."


	3. Casa de Price

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 :) Slower updates during the weekdays work is busy. Currently editing Chapter 4.

"Welcome la casa de- Price-. That sounded better in my head." Chloe saw that no one was home so she used her keys to get in. 

They go upstairs to Chloe's room. At first glance, her room can be mistaken for a messy five year old’s, and Chloe was kinda embarrassed about that. 

"Yeah, sorry about the mess, I was just... looking for some stuff." She said while faintly scratching her head. 

"Must've been something important for you to trash your room like this." Max tried to joke but came off as serious. 

"I'll clean it up! It'll take two seconds!" Chloe pleaded. 

"Hey, come on. I was just kidding. This place… actually feels cozy." Max sat on the bed. "Kinda reminds me of my room in Seattle, actually. But fewer clothes on the floor." 

' Oh yeah, she's from Seattle. Should I ask about that? Or should I just go and get the tools? ' Chloe wondered, but her curiosity triumphed. 

She sat down on the bed next to Max. "Oh, so you're from Seattle?", pretending like she didn't know. 

"No, not really. I was born here in Arcadia Bay but we had to move to Seattle when I was 5." 

"So why'd you come back here? Blackwell?" 

"Yeah. I wanted to be a photographer and my friend helped me applied; and I was surprised when I got accepted." 

"Wait. Isn't photography class a senior thing? I thought you were a junior?" Chloe asked in confusion. 

"Uh, who told you I was a junior?" Max giggled. 

"Rachel said you were a-." Then it hit her.

' Goddamn it, Rachel Amber! I'm gonna kill you!! ' Her anger didn't hide much of her embarrassment.

Max giggled at the sight. "She's my classmate in photography class." Max pulls out a class photo of the photography class from her bag and the two were indeed classmates. 

"Damn it, she pranked me." Chloe laughed at herself for falling for it. "Well I guess if she hadn't then I wouldn't have met you-."

She looked at Max, her face was bright red, eyes nervously avoiding eye contact while her lips was trying to hide a smile. 

Chloe realized how embarrassing the situation was and immediately tried to shift the conversation.

"Aha! Tools! Right! Tiny tools, right? You gotta fix that camera!" She stood up, and immediately rummaged her drawer, looking for nothing. 

"I thought you said it was in the garage?" Max asked. 

"Yes. I did say that. So lemme go and get it." Chloe rushed out the door and slammed it behind her. She leaned against it, clutched her chest. 

' What the fuck is wrong with me? ' She asked herself. ' Why does it feel like she and I-. Have we ever-? What is this feeling? And why am I feeling it? '

"Just relax, Chloe. You got this." She whispered to herself. 

She psyched herself up, went to the bathroom, washed her face, quickly brushed her teeth and gargled mouthwash. She thought about taking a quick shower but even a quick one would take too long, so she just used one of Rachel's perfumes to hide the smell of bacon and cigarettes. 

"That's good for now." She told herself.

* * *

**10 minutes later.**

The door opened. Max leaned her head and saw Chloe, holding a set of precision screwdrivers. 

"Is this what you need?" Showing Max the kit. 

"Yeah. I think these will do." Max took the kit and sat down in front of Chloe's desk. She took her camera out of her bag and started disassembling it. 

Chloe lied down on her bed. She popped a cigarette but then stopped before lighting it, thinking that it would probably bother Max. 

She quietly put it back under her bed. She then saw Max's journal sticking out of her bag and with pictures sticking out of it. 

"H-hey. Do you mind if I look at your pictures?" She asked while pointing at her bag. 

"Okay. Just don't read the journal, please." 

"No worries there, I'm not nosy enough to pry at other people's private lives." 

She took the journal and as she said, took a look only at the pictures. 

There were about a dozen pictures, and they were all of everyday, mundane things; a squirrel, a bus, Jeremiah Blackwell's statue, etc. But one photo in particular, caught her eye - a photo of a blue butterfly on a bucket. 

"Woah." She puts the photo beside her face, "Hey, this blue is the same as my hair's." 

"Yeah. It reminded me of you; that's why I took that photo." said Max as she smiled to herself, still trying to fix her camera. 

"What?" Chloe wasn't sure of what she just heard.  'Wait, did she just say that she thought of me? Have we meet before? Damn it, why can't you remember?'  She scolded herself. 

"Ah- it's just that, um, I always saw you around Rachel and I thought your hair color was really cool, even though, um, I heard you got in trouble for it, and um, I saw that butterfly in the bathroom, and I thought it was just as beautiful as you and um- ah." Max's face was the physical embodiment of embarrassment.

Chloe's face was the embodiment of surprise. ' Did she just call me beautiful? ' She giggled to herself. 

"S-so-." Chloe stuttered, "do you mind if I keep this? You know, just something to remember this day by." She asked, trying to change the subject. 

"O-ok, sure." She replied, still embarrassed.

* * *

**5 minutes later**

"Damn. I can't fix it." Max groaned. 

"Shit. Sorry." 

"It's not your fault." 

"I know. Just saying." Chloe got up from the bed. "Well, you can keep the tiny tools for now, just in case you want to try again.” 

“Are you sure that your step-dad won't come looking for it?” She asked with a slightly worried tone.

“Step-douche.” Chloe corrected. “And, if he ever does, I got you.” 

“Alright. Thank you.” Max puts the tool kit in her bag

“Come on. I'll take you home."

After everything that happened in the room, there was an awkward silence between them during half the trip back to school. But surprisingly, it was Max that broke the silence. 

"Hey, thank you- again- for everything, today." Max said shyly.

Chloe smiles, "Ah, I'm just sorry that you weren't able to fix your camera." 

"I'll try to fix it again tomorrow. And when worse comes to worse, I'll probably ask my parents to buy me a new one."

"Don't those things cost like thousands of dollars?" 

"Some." Max put on a sad look, "but if I don't have one, then that would be a problem."

"It's probably none of my business, but why insist on a retro format?" 

"Well, with digital, we tend to take for granted the fact that when you make a mistake like miss the focus or over expose, we can just try again with little consequence-."

Chloe can see that Max was in her element, talking smoothly and confidently, unlike her usual shy self. 

"-with Polaroids, you have to take your time and really decide on not only how to take your photo, but also what subject you want to take a photo of." 

"Wow. That's pretty deep, for camera talk." Chloe laughed. 

"Ever since I was a kid, I loved taking pictures. Early on, I knew I wanted to be a photographer." Max said with a smile; reminiscing about the past. 

'Damn it, Price. Stop looking at her face. Look at the road. Just concentrate on driving.' Chloe shook her head and hid her blush.

"Well, your on your way there, Max. I better see your pictures in a gallery one day, or else I'll eat your ass." Chloe joked. 

"I'll do my best." 

They finally arrive at the parking lot of the school. Since it was already night time, there were barely any cars in the lot. Only them, the sound of crickets, and the light from the posts were present. 

"We're here." 

Max gathers her things. "Hey, I-uh, I had fun today." 

"Me too." Chloe replied with a smile. 

“Thanks for the ride.” She said as she exited the vehicle. 

“Anytime.” 

Max walks back to the school grounds. Chloe followed her with a look until she couldn't see her anymore. 

Back in her room, while Chloe was looking at the butterfly photo she suddenly remembered:  'Dad's Polaroid camera! '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this and the next chapter will be just fluff... I've already planned out a path this story can take and I'm still not sure if I want this story to be a comedy or a tragedy.


	4. Old New Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter of the Study Room Arc. 
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and your patience :)
> 
> Enjoy.

Later that night, after Chloe, Joyce, and David had dinner, Chloe sought the opportunity to talk to Joyce alone (while she was washing the dishes). 

"Hey, mom." Chloe said in a normal voice. 

"Chloe." Joyce acknowledged.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where dad's old polaroid camera is?" 

"I kept it at the bottom of my wardrobe. Why?" Joyce asked curiously.

"Well, Max's camera broke earlier and I was thinking of gifting… err giving her dad's old camera; I know it still works. Those things stand the test of time."

"Oh, no. What happened?" Joyce asked.

Chloe leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. "Some asshole almost ran over Max in the parking lot of the diner. I pulled her away a bit too hard; we fell and her camera broke." She explained. 

"Well, I'm just glad that you guys are OK." Joyce finished washing the dishes. She dried her hands and said: "Let's go get it." 

They go to the main bedroom; David wasn't there, thankfully. It took a minute for Joyce to shuffle things around but soon enough, she stood up with William's old Polaroid 1200si Camera in hand. 

"Your dad, he used to take so many pictures with this." Joyce said lovingly. 

"And I would always do a stupid pose or a silly face." 

"I haven't heard this thing snap a picture since- since that day." She hands it over to Chloe. "I'm glad it's going to be used again, to make more memories- to capture more great and happy moments."

Chloe takes the camera. "Thanks, Mom." 

Joyce can see the huge smile and excitement in Chloe's face as she inspects the camera. Something she, again, hasn't seen in a long while. 

Overwhelmed with emotion, she simply and quietly hugs her daughter. 

Chloe was surprised. "OK, getting a bit too mushy here, mom."

"I love you, Chloe. Always. No matter what." The sincerity in Joyce's voice was scaring her a bit but it comforted her even more. 

"I love you too, mom." Chloe responded. 

When Joyce ended the hug, Chloe wanted to lighten the mood a bit. 

"But I only love you, Mom. David can go to hell." She said playfully.

"Chloe." Joyce puts on a semi-serious face. 

"OK fine, he can stay outside the house." 

"Chloe." 

“The garage?”

Joyce drops her semi serious face and chuckled, “If he doesn't fix his car soon he might as well just live there.” She joked. 

Chloe laughed softly, "I'm just kidding. As long as you are happy then I guess I'll... tolerate him." 

"I know David can be difficult." Joyce caressed Chloe's cheek. "But he does love and care about you. Even if you don't see it." 

"I would appreciate some effort in actually showing me." She complained. "Instead of calling me 'girly' or a 'pothead'."

"I know. But you also have to put some effort into understanding what he's been through; what he's trying to be." Joyce placed her hand Chloe's shoulder, "You don't have to like each other. But I don't want us hating one another. OK?" 

"I'll try, mom. I promise." Chloe almost cried.

"Me too, Chloe." They both breathed a heavy sigh. "Alright. I gotta get back to the kitchen." 

"I'll help." Chloe offered. 

"Thank you, Chloe, but you have more important things to take care off." Joyce smiled while looking at the camera in Chloe's hands and went out of the room. 

* * *

**October 10, 2013**

The teacher for Chloe and Rachel's first class was sick, and since it was a double period, they practically had a free morning, which they decided to spend some of, in the study room. 

"OK, first off, I want to say I'm sorry." Rachel is putting on her best smile, but Chloe is having none of it; giving her a stink eye just to make her feel the least bit guilty.

"OK fine," Rachel put her hands up, "I don't want to say it; I'm going to say it: I'm sorry I lied." 

"That's it?" Chloe asked seriously. 

"I'm sorry for not telling you that Max was actually my classmate and ditching our lunch... which ended up in you two having a good time?" Rachel semi-sarcastically replied. 

Chloe dropped her seriousness and chuckled, "Yeah it was pretty fun. But why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"Because this way-,” Rachel leaned in closer, “-is more interesting." She said as if it were obvious. 

"I guess it wouldn't really have made a difference." Chloe thought out loud. 

"See, Price? I know what I'm doing. I'm like a hotter cupid, just ask Dana and Trevor." Rachel bragged. 

"Look, it's not like we're a couple now, we just hung out and it turned out to be really fun." Chloe shrugged like it was no big deal, which gave Rachel an opportunity to tease her. 

"Oh you know what, her dorm room is just down the hall from mine, so if she's still single..." She said while stroking her chin. 

"Wha-? Don't you-!" Chloe overreacted, falling so easily for Rachel's trap. 

"Hahahahaha!" Rachel laughed, "You are hella easy, Chloe." 

"Hmpf. Whatever." Chloe crossed her arms and looked away to hide her blush from Rachel. But she calmed down quickly and asked : "Hey, since it's a free double period, do you want to go anywhere? I mean staying here for hours is pretty boring."

"Is it because she's not here?" Rachel teased. 

"Can you please stop? Let's just go to Junkyard and blaze, alright?" Chloe got up and placed a box wrapped in newspaper in her bag, which Rachel noticed. 

"Hey, what's in the box?" She asked. 

"Oh, uh, Max's camera broke yesterday so I thought that maybe I'll just give her my father's camera since, you know, she's into Polaroid photography. And no one in the family uses this anymore so it's better in her hands.” 

"Charity Price. Nice. See, it's only been a day and you're already head over heels for her." Rachel continued to tease. 

"You are impossible to satisfy, aren't you?" Chloe said as she walked out of the room. 

"I will never be satisfied!" Rachel shouted as she hopped on Chloe's back. "Not until you confess your love for her."

"Ah- get off me, pervert." Chloe tried to shake her off but Rachel's hold was strong. 

"I can imagine it now: you, on one knee, holding her hands, and looking at her deep blue eyes, 'Oh, Max, I love you with all my soul!'" She jokingly tried to mimic Chloe's voice. 

Chloe can't help but imagine it, she was sharing her body heat by holding Max's hands. Then Max looks at her with her usual blush and puppy blue eyes. She can see that their lips were dry, and there was only one way to take care of that-

'No. No. No. You idiot. Stop daydreaming!' She internally screamed as she shook her head violently. 

Rachel caught on and could've used the opportunity to tease her even more, but she didn't. Instead opting to help and encourage her instead. 

She got off Chloe's back and placed her arm around her shoulders "Hey, when do you plan on giving that to her?" Rachel asked. 

"Uh- later? During lunch break or after class? I don't know- I'm not sure." 

"Ah. Typical you. Charging in without a plan."

"Takes one to know one." Chloe retorted. 

"Touché. Look, give it to her during lunch so that she'll have a camera by Photography class." Rachel suggested. "I mean she's always there in the study room at that time, so no worries." 

"That sounds... like a plan, I guess." Chloe agreed. 

"Do you know what you have to say or do or look?" Rachel teased. 

"Dude, it's gonna be fine, I don't need to practice for this, OK?" Chloe assured. 

"Oh, this is going to be interesting." Rachel quietly told herself while putting an ominous smile. 

"Hey Junkyard Queen! Let's go!" Chloe shouted from her truck. 

"Coming!" Rachel shouted back. 

* * *

The two got back to Blackwell with 30 minutes to spare. As the two were walking to the library, Rachel noticed something obvious.

"Woah. Woah. Woah." Rachel stopped Chloe from walking. 

"What?" She asked. 

"Dude, we smell like weed." Rachel commented as she was smelling her own clothes. 

"Yeah,” Chloe also smelled herself, “Wells won't be too happy about that." 

"Also, not a very impressive look for Max." Rachel added teasingly.

Chloe let out a huge sigh, "This is my life now." She muttered to herself. 

“More like: she is my life now.” Rachel jokingly teased.

"Can you just-,” Chloe stopped herself, “look, let's just change and freshen up in your room?" 

"That's the plan." Rachel leaned in to Chloe, making sure that her breasts were sandwiching [Chloe's] arm. "And maybe-" She leaned in close to her ear, "-we can shower together." 

"Wha-?!" Chloe's cheeks reddened and her heart skipped a beat. She gently shoves Rachel away, "Shut up, dude. We gotta hustle." She said loudly as she walked faster. 

Rachel laughs, "Why so embarrassed, Price? Nothing you haven't seen before." 

"I'm using all the hot water if you don't shut up." Chloe threatened. 

"Don't you mean we'll use up all the hot water?" Rachel joked. 

* * *

After taking a bath, separately, Chloe was trying to decide which of Rachel's shirts to wear. In the end, she decided to just wear a Hawt Dawg Man shirt, along with her thin black canvas jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots. 

Rachel simply wore a plain red shirt, Blue checkered (collared) shirt, jeans, and sneakers. 

They got to the study room about 5 minutes into lunch time but to their surprise, Max wasn't there. 

"That's surprising." Rachel commented. 

"Maybe she had a thing and is late?" Chloe asked rhetorically. 

"Maybe." Rachel agreed, "In any case, let's eat first; I brought sandwiches." Rachel said as she sat down and opened her bag, taking out a paper bag with two sandwiches inside. 

Lunch came and went, but Max never showed up in the study room. 

Chloe was obviously a little sad and disappointed. Rachel could see it and assured her: "Hey, it's fine. I'll talk to her in class and I will make sure that she sees you after school." 

"Thank you, Rachel." Chloe smiled, "You're a good friend." 

Rachel gave her a 'that's it?' look. 

"Fine-," Chloe stood up and hugged her, "-you're the best." 

"Hella best." Rachel corrected. 

* * *

Photography class ended 10 minutes early. While most of the students left as soon as class ended Rachel and Max didn't; for different reasons. 

Knowing that this was her opportunity to talk to Max, she took it. She pulled up a chair and sat next to her (who was still packing up her stuff). 

Max noticed her, and was a bit surprised, "Rachel... Amber?" She asked as if she weren't sure. 

Rachel smiles, "Nailed it." She replied as she shot a finger gun at Max. 

"Did you need something?" Max asked. 

"I heard that you and Chloe went on a date yesterday." 

"Ah- it wasn't a date!" Max panics, "We just hung out. I- I wouldn't try to get in between you two so-."

Rachel burst out laughing. "Damn. I see why she fancies you." She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Huh?" She didn't get why Rachel was laughing. 

"Chloe and I, we're not "together"... anymore." She used air quotes on ‘together’ to emphasize her point. "So if you ever want to court her or she courts you; totally fine by me." 

"Why aren't you together anymore?" Max's face was filled with curiosity but then realized that that probably the best thing to ask her right now, "S-sorry. Didn't mean to pry. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." 

"Nah. It's fine. Well, it's complicated; but the gist is, our chemistry didn't really work as a couple but it is hella amazing as friends." Rachel tried to explain but all Max can put is a confused face. "Like I said, complicated. But I am happy with our current relationship." 

"I see. I guess if you're happy then that's all it needs to be." 

"Exactly. You get it." Rachel exclaimed. 

Max looked at her phone, she finished collecting her things and told Rachel: "I- I'm sorry. But I really need to return this book to the library," She shows her a copy of The October Country, with a library card in between the pages at the end of the book, "So, if you'll excuse me." Max stood up. 

"I'll come with." Rachel stood up fast. She took her things and headed towards the door. 

"Oh, shouldn't you be heading to your next class?" Max asked. 

"Next class starts in-" Rachel looked at her watch "-21 minutes. We have plenty of time." 

So as the two walked down the quiet hallways of Blackwell Academy, Rachel thought of another thing to talk about. 

"Hey, so, can't help but notice that you have a library card." Rachel took the card from the book and read the info written; she noticed that the card was dated even before the school year started. "Even rarer to see one dated before the school started." She commented. "The process is so stupidly complicated that most new students don't have one until after the first semester."

"Ah. Well- actually-,” She stammered as she hugged the book she was holding. “i-it was Chloe." 

"It was August this year. I just finished moving to the dorm." Max continued, "and I wanted to explore the campus but I somehow ended up in the library. I was amazed by the selection of books it had, especially on photography, but then realized that you need a library card to borrow one."

Rachel returned the card to Max.

"I didn't know how to get one. And yes, the process was complicated and the librarians all looked so busy; I didn't want to bother them. But then she- Chloe just came up to me and got me one. She filled out all the paperwork and requirements." 

"So that's why she was late that day." Rachel muttered to herself. 

Max looked at her with curiosity. 

"Ah. It's nothing. Then what happened?" Rachel asked. 

"Well, after everything, she just- did finger guns and left. I didn't even get to say thank you." 

"Wait." Rachel was holding in her laughter, "is that why you were in the study room almost everyday for over a month? You wanted to say thank you?"

Max embarrassingly nodded. "But she always looked so busy or having fun that I didn't want to bother her." 

Rachel finally burst out laughing, which made Max visibly feel a little bad about herself, "No. No. No. I'm not laughing at you." Rachel assured, "I'm laughing at Chloe."

"Why?" Max asked. 

"It's just… so like her. Helping others without asking for anything in return. Undoubtedly one of her best traits.” 

"At first I was scared, she looked just like the punks from Seattle that bullied me. But out of everyone in the library that day, she was the only one who helped me.”

"Yeah. That's Chloe, trying to put on a rough exterior but inside, she's a real softy." Rachel said lovingly. 

After returning the book, they were about to go to their next classes; but Rachel stopped Max for just a second. "Hey, I think Chloe wants to talk to you; later, after school." 

"About what?" Max asked. 

"I don't know. But it's your chance to say thanks for the library card." Rachel looks at her watch, "meet her in front of her truck in the parking lot at around 4:00pm."

"OK." Max replied with a smile and excitement.

* * *

In the Blackwell parking lot, Chloe was chilling in her truck, foot on the dash, one arm out of the window, the other holding a lit cigarette. She checks her phone,

_ '16:03' _

_ No Notifications. _

'She said she'll be here by 4.' She told herself but then shook her head,  'well, me of all people should know that no one arrives on time.' 

So she decided to plug in her earphones and listen to some music. 

20 minutes later, she spotted Max running towards her direction.

She immediately sat up, threw away the cigarette, popped a bubble gum, and got her present. She got out and waited for her in front of the truck. 

As Max reached her, she was out of breath, and could barely say what she wanted "I'm sorry-" * _heavy breath*_ , "Had to do-" * _heavy breath*_ , "something". 

"It's alright." Chloe chuckled, "just take a minute." She opened the door to her truck and offered for Max to sit; she did. 

After a short while, Max has regained her breath and composure. "So, um, Rachel said you wanted to talk to me?" 

Chloe thought she was ready. She even practiced in front of a mirror for this, and yet she was still nervous. "Yeah. I didn't really think of anything to say so I'll just do it." Chloe handed the newspaper covered box to Max. 

"What's this?" She asked curiously. 

"Open it." She was just as excited as Max at this point. She wanted to see her smile, or rather she liked the fact that she felt happy when Max was happy. 

Max carefully rips the wrapping and opens the box. Her heart raced with surprise and excitement as she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. 

"Chloe I-I can't-". She stuttered. 

"Yes you can." She slightly pushed the box nearer to her. "Max. Look, it's just collecting dust at home; and if you use it, I know you'll take amazing photos with it. And it also saves you a ton of money." 

"Alright. Thank you." Max took the camera out of the box. It was old, sure, but it was very well kept, no dents or scratches on the lens. When she loaded a fresh pack of film, it worked flawlessly. 

She gazed her eyes upon Chloe, who was smiling at her. She wanted to freeze time and look at that beautiful face forever; luckily, she had the perfect device to do so.

"Hey, um. Wanna take a selfie? You know... To remember this day by." Max was embarrassed to her ears when she asked but she's definitely glad that she did because: 

"Sure," said Chloe. "But you're taking the picture, Caulfield." she took Max's hand and led her in front of the truck. 

Max raised the camera just above her head, Chloe raises her right arm with the index, pinky, and thumb extended. Max makes sure to be as steady as humanly possible; she quickly glances her eyes at Chloe and smiles.

* _click!_ *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should say that every arc starts after a certain time skip (weeks usually, months at most) 
> 
> The next Arc is: The Halloween Conundrum Arc.


	5. Unsure Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited Chapter 4 so its no longer an Author's Note; it is now a proper chapter.
> 
> Hmm. Ayt, I rewrote this Chapter and removed the Tabletop Adventure part. I'm just going to continue with pure story for now. 
> 
> Also I didn't (and won't) put Mr. Jefferson in this story. I instead replaced him with Mr. Kenderson as the Photography Class teacher.

**THE HALLOWEEN CONUNDRUM ARC**

**PROLOGUE:**

As the camera made its distinct noise and the polaroid photo presented itself, Max took it and placed it on the hood of the truck. 

"Lemme see!" Chloe excitedly blurted out. She took the photo but it was just a shiny black canvas. 

Max chuckles, "It takes about 15 minutes to develop." 

"Ah- Haha! Yeah. I knew that! I was just... testing you." She nervously laughed. 

"Did I pass?" Max was just riding along to not make Chloe feel too embarrassed. 

"Yes. Yes you did." She put the photo back on the hood. "With flying colors."

"H-hey, so listen." Max reverted back to her shy shell. 

"Hmm?" 

"There's one more thing I wanted you to know." Max reached in her bag and grabbed something. 

"What is it?" Chloe said, a little confused. 

"This." Max showed her library card. 

Chloe's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She took the card and checked it out; then she finally remembered.

"You're that girl... In the library, before the start of school." Chloe's brain was exploding from the revelation. "That's why I didn't recognize you, your hair was waaay shorter." 

"Yeah." Max was twirling her hair "and I never got a chance to say thank you... So, thank you." Max showed her now-trademarked smile to Chloe, prompting her face to go red. 

"Ah. Well! You're... Welcome?" 'Damn it, you trained for this, you idiot! Stop blushing. Just put on a cool face.' She ordered herself. "Ehem. Why don't we grab a quick bite? My treat." 

"You've done enough," Max took the photo and put it in her pocket. "I'll pay for this one." 

"Oh thank God." Chloe (and Max) got inside the truck. "I'm actually out of cash but I still wanted to look cool." Chloe laughed at herself. 

"I can't let you have all the favors. And hey, you're always cool in my eyes." Max teased but she too can't properly hide her own blush. 

Chloe was stunned at what she just heard. Her heart was racing and her ears were turning red- things Max can see and feel. 

"Hey, I, uh, thought of a name for your truck." Max abruptly said to change the topic. 

"R-really?" Chloe’s embarrassment switched to excitement, "Do tell." 

“Maui." Max said gleefully. “You see I was trying to come up with a quirky name that's a combo of our name but I couldn't really come up with something that sounds nice so I just thought ‘Ma’ like the start of Max and ‘ui’ like the end of Chloe.” She explained without a single stutter. 

After one second of just a frozen face, Chloe laughed out loud. 

"You don't like it?" Max worryingly asked. 

"I like it." Chloe pulled out her marker and wrote "MAUI" on the dash. "It's unique, and cool." 

"Hella cool." Max corrected. 

"Noice. I think I'm rubbing off on you, Caulfield." Chloe said proudly. 

As Maui rode off into the distance, they looked at each other's eyes and saw what the other saw, felt what the other felt; the one thing that was very clear to both of them: this was the start of a weird, fun, and exciting relationship. 

* * *

**October 28, 2013**

Monday morning. Chloe and Rachel’s first class ended a bit early, giving Rachel an opportunity to tease her best friend before going to their next class. 

She picks up a chair, sets it down in front of Chloe, sits backwards, and puts on a goading smile; which worked, since it was starting to annoy Chloe. 

“What?” She snapped.

Rachel didn't say a word; she continued smiling. 

“I swear I'm going to punch you in the face.” Chloe threatened.

“So,” Rachel was unfazed by Chloe's threat, “what are you wearing to the Halloween party on Friday?” 

“Why do you think that I would even go?” 

“Uh, there's free drinks, free weed- don't tell anyone, and-” Rachel leaned in closer, “-I heard that Max is attending her very first Blackwell Party.” Rachel still has that goading smile across her face. 

“You know- fine. Fine. I'll go.” Chloe closed her eyes and raised her index finger, “but I'm doing it for the free booze; I know you always get the good shit.” 

“Yeah. Uh huh. Whatever you have to tell yourself.” 

“You really think I'll go there, exclusively for Max?” She asked. 

“Primarily.” Rachel corrected, “you'll still drink booze and blaze, sure, but you will go there and you will confess your love for her.” Rachel said confidently. 

“You know it's so nice to have my best friend plan out my life for me.” Chloe said sarcastically. 

“Aw. Thank you.” She “genuinely” responded 

“That was sarcastic and you know it.” Chloe snapped. 

“You know you're really cute when you're in denial of your feelings.” Rachel joked. “But once you've come to the realization that you do- indeed like her, I will wholeheartedly support and help you. No questions asked.” 

“What makes you think that I even like Max… romantically?” 

“Uh, the subtle looks? The way you speak with her suddenly changes? The general atmosphere? The way you shift from tough punk to dweeb?” Rachel said as if she was stating something very obvious. 

“Did I- was I ever like that around you?” Chloe asked. 

“Yes. 100 percent no doubt.” Rachel said quickly and flatly. “Well, at least until we got used to each other- which was like, a week. But! During the times you were a dweeb, you were hella cute. And I'm seeing the same pattern now, except-.” Rachel paused and gathered her thoughts. 

“Except?” Chloe asked, waiting for the continuation. 

“Except you're less... fearless than with me.”

“Less fearless? What does that mean?” Chloe asked. 

“Chloe, you asked for a kiss on like, the third day after we met; I'd say that takes some serious balls, considering everything that was happening back then.”

“Fair enough.” 

“But now, it's like you're afraid of something.” Rachel deduced. “Chloe, let's be serious.” Her tone was now serious, “just be honest. What are you afraid of?”

“I'm not afraid.” Chloe asserted, “I'm just… unsure of what I really feel about her.” she said with a slightly sad tone. 

“You're unsure?!” Rachel’s voice was louder than normal, “Well it better be sure real fast because, and I didn't really want to worry you but, you've got competition.” 

“Huh? What the fuck do you mean?” she asked in a confrontational manner. 

“What I meant was-” Rachel pulls out her phone and shows a picture to Chloe “-Warren!” 

Chloe looked at the picture. It was just a simple selfie of Max and Warren during their American History class. 

Instead of being worried, Chloe almost burst in laughter. “Warren?” She asked mockingly “Warren is my competition?” 

“Yeah.”

Warren?”

“Yup.”

“Warren?”

“Why do you sound so confident that he isn't?” Rachel asked. 

“Well, Max isn't... into... boys.” Chloe started off confident but ended up unsure. 

Rachel put on a confused face, “Did she tell you that?” She asked. 

“No. But, I mean, I thought it was kinda obvious that she’s-” Chloe trailed off and continued by scissoring her fingers. 

“I beg to differ.” Rachel retorted. 

“How so?” 

“First. There was one time in Photography class where Mr. Kenderson showed a picture of young Donald Sutherland and I definitely heard her say that ‘he was hot’.” Rachel used air quotes. 

“It's Donald Sutherland, even guys would say he's hot.” Chloe rattled. 

“OK, second. I once overheard her mention to Kate that she dated a guy during her third year in highschool.” 

“Didn't know you were a quidnunc.” Chloe replied, trying to hide her slightly obvious worry. 

“I always keep my eyes open and ears close to the ground.” She said proudly, “Anyway, my point is that you may not be the only one after her heart.” 

The bell rings. 

Rachel stands up and gathers her things, “Just think about what I said, alright? I'm always here for you.” 

“Thanks.” Chloe also gathers her things, “But I can assure you that Max and I are just friends.” she said as she exited the room.

“For now.” Rachel said to herself. 

* * *

After school. The halls of Blackwell Academy were far from empty. There was still a majority of students and faculty who were busy setting up the decorations and the facilities needed for the Halloween Party, especially the Vortex Club. So Rachel was very busy even after school and Max was also helping the Photography Class to decorate for the party; Chloe wasn't a part of the Vortex Club nor the Photography Class, so she decided to go home early and play some games or watch TV. But then Steph caught her on her way to the parking lot. 

“Hey, Chloe!” She called out while running towards her. 

“Steph. What's up?” 

“I really hate to ask you for this but can you drive me to the hardware store?” 

Chloe simply smiles and pats her back, “Hey, no problemo. I was going to waste the day anyway so it's nice to have something to do.” 

“Thanks, Chloe. I'll buy you food later as thanks.” 

“I'll hold you to that.” She said gleefully, knowing that Steph always buys her the best burgers. 

As the two were walking to the parking lot, Steph asked a question:

“Wait, are you going to the party? Heard a rumor that you'd skip this one.” Steph sounded a bit sad when she thought that Chloe wouldn't come.

“‘Course I will. Can't say no to free booze.” Chloe joked. 

“You have the Vortex Club to thank for that. Anyway, what're you going to wear?” Steph pulled out her sketchpad “me, I'll go as a sexy Dracula.” She showed Chloe a sketch of her costume. 

“That's pretty dope.” Chloe looked with awe. “I was thinking of going as a pirate, you know like my Tabletop character.” 

“Not a bad idea.” 

“Thing is, I don't own a pirate costume. All I have is the hat.” 

“We have some pirate costumes in the theater department if you want to borrow one.” Steph offered. 

“Damn. Really? Thanks.” 

“No problem. I know your size and all, so I'll have it ready by tomorrow.” Steph pulled out her phone and started texting. 

“I trust your judgment on fashion so I'll leave it up to you.” Chloe snatched her sketchpad and browsed; she noticed that there was a drawing of two Pirates. One had blue hair (there was a "C" written near it) and the other had an eye patch with an "M" written near it. 

* * *

Rachel was sitting alone in the classroom, busy writing and typing names, time, instructions and general information for the party, when suddenly:

“Holy hell. Rachel Amber, all alone." Said the voice. "What a sight to behold." 

Rachel looks up and sees Nathan Prescott, standing in front of her. 

"Nathan." Said Rachel. She made sure to be visibly annoyed by his mere presence. 

"So what're you doing here all alone?" He asked. 

"Logistics for the party." She answered, still uninterested, which was beginning to annoy Nathan. 

"Ha. First of all, gay." He sat down in front of her and took the paper she was writing on, "Second, stupid. You know I've seen you hang out with Kate and that nerd who likes science. Why do you hang out with those losers? You can have anyone in your groupie and you choose those freaks." He said mockingly. 

Rachel snatches the sheet from him, "They're not my groupie, Nathan, they're my friends." She said seriously. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"I have more cooler and better friends than you, Amber. Remember that." He said with a slightly threatening tone. 

"What the fuck are you even doing here, Nathan?" She asked, now with an obvious annoyed tone. 

"Nothing. Vortex club meeting at 4pm tomorrow." Nathan got up, but before leaving, he turned around and said: “You know, I've also seen you hanging out a lot with Caulfield.” 

“So?” 

"How much do you know about her?"

"What?" Rachel was confused. 

"Never mind." Nathan shook his head and walked away.

"The fuck was that about?" She whispered to herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to put up Chapter 6 soon :) 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day and thank you always for reading and supporting my fic :)


	6. My Feelings

As Steph and Chloe were nearing the parking lot, something caught Chloe's eye. 

“So that what I meant when she-” Steph was still talking about something when Chloe suddenly yanked her down behind a bush. “What the-?!” 

“Sshh” Chloe shushed Steph as she pointed at what she saw: 

It was Max and Warren talking and laughing. 

“Chloe,” Steph whispered, “this feels weird.” 

“Clam it, Steph.” Chloe ordered as she eavesdropped on the two. 

She couldn't really hear anything since they were out of earshot but she can clearly see that Warren was making Max laugh and even blush. 

This made her uncomfortable, jealous even. But she was able to keep her cool… until Max lost her balance and almost fell; Warren caught her by the waist and pulled her close to him. 

Chloe promptly stormed out of her hiding place and briskly walked towards the two. 

“Chloe, no- don't-.” Steph tried to stop her but to no avail; she chased after her. 

“Hey, Max. Warren.” Chloe called out with a slightly confrontational tone.

“Chloe.” Max quickly moved away from Warren. “What's up?” 

“You Ok?” Chloe asked Max, not even minding Warren. 

“Yeah, I just lost my balance.” Max said with her usual cute voice, “I was just trying to prove to Warren that I can do the moonwalk-.” 

“But there's a reason why Michael Jackson does it on a slippery floor.” Warren interjected. “Oh, hey Steph.” Steph has finally caught up with Chloe. 

“So what're you doing here?” Max asked [Chloe]

“Oh. Uh. I was just helping Steph with some shopping for the party.” she said with a shaky voice. 

“Yeah, we have to hurry up with some of the decorations for the theater club’s gig.” Steph explained.

“I see.” Said Max, “Well, do you need any help? I can come with you guys if you want.” 

“That would be fantastic!” Chloe said excitedly. 

“Sure. The more hands, the faster we'll finish.” said Steph, “How ‘bout you, Warren?” 

Warren realizing that situation, (and that he would be the only guy there) backed off, “Nah.” He said, “I'll just go back in and help Kate.” 

“OK.” said Max, “Hey, tell Kate that I returned her copy of The October Country earlier.” 

“Alright.” Said Warren. “I'll see you guys tomorrow.” 

“Come on.” Steph walked towards Chloe's car, “daylight's burning.”

“Right.” Max followed. 

Chloe just stood there and reflected on the events of the past 5 minutes.  ‘What the fuck is wrong with me? Why did I feel a pang in my heart when Warren held Max like that?’

“Hey, Captain Bluebeard!” Steph called out, “Maui needs a driver!” 

Chloe snapped out of it. “Ah! Sorry. Coming!”

* * *

When they got to the Hardware store Steph had two lists of items to buy. 

“Alright, since there's three of us, we can split up. You two-,” She points to both of them, “You team up and find these.” She hands them the shorter list.

“We're on it.” Chloe did a pretend salute, which Max found quite cute. 

“What?” Chloe asked Max. 

“Nothing.” Max chuckled, “What's on the list?” 

“Oh. Uh.” Chloe read the list: 

_ Yellow, Red, Orange, and Black Yarn - 11 yards _

_ Brown rope - 15 yards _

_ 2x 6x6 ft. Black blanket.  _

_ 1x 6x6 yellow blanket.  _

_ 1x 4x4 red blanket _

_ 1x 4x4 orange blanket _

_ 1x 4x4 white blanket  _

_ Lotsa bubble wrap  _

“It's mostly cloth and rope.” Max commented.

“Ooh, kinky.” Chloe joked. 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” Chloe cleared her throat, “Alright let's go.” She quickly walked down the corridor, looking for the proper aisles. 

As they were searching for the aisle, Chloe was “spacing out” and wasn't looking for the things they needed but instead, she was thinking about that pang she felt in her heart. ‘ Am I really-? ’ but before she can finish her thought;

“Chloe?” Max looked worried. “Are you ok? You look pale.” 

“Huh? Yeah I’m good.” She was a little startled. “Um, lets get those blankets.” 

“Ok.” Max replied, still weirded out, “You sure you’re ok?” 

“I’m fine.” she assured, “come on, give me a hand.” Chloe started looking through the pile of blankets.

Max knew something was obviously up but while she had a guess, she didn’t want to bring anything up. 

“Hey, Chloe.” Max softly called out. 

“Yeah?” Chloe replied, still browsing through the blankets.

“I- I was planning to go to the party as a pirate.” she said shyly. 

Chloe looked at her with a smile, “No shit? I was planning to do the same.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Do you own a pirate costume?” 

“Ah. No. I was actually going to borrow one from the theater club.” 

“Whaaaaa- I was planning the same thing!” She said excitedly, “So, you want to- you know, maybe, let’s go together?” Chloe tried to hide her embarrassment with the blanket she was holding “-to get our costumes and stuff.” 

“That sounds… wonderful.” Max replied with a smile. 

“Cool! Let's uh, meet at your dorm at like 3 o'clock, Wednesday?” She nervously asked. 

“OK.” Max replied softly while trying to hide her blush and excitement.

* * *

Later that night, in her room, Chloe was browsing through facebook when she saw that selfie of Max and Warren again; she felt that sharp pain in her heart, the pain she has been denying all this time. As she closed her eyes and reflected on her true feelings, it was so clear, so simple, yet so scary. 

‘ What are you afraid of ?’ Rachel’s words echoed in her head. What was she afraid of? Rejection? Or was she afraid that Max felt the same way she did and it would ruin what they already have? She didn’t know what would happen. After William died, she would always just jump head first into every challenge and every problem she encountered and deal with it as it happened. But not this one. Was she finally afraid of something uncertain? Was she finally afraid to make the jump? For the first time in her life, she felt that she can’t do it alone. She needed help, all the help she can get- and she knows exactly where to start.

After a long day at school, Rachel was finally about to go to bed when- 

Bzzt. Bzzt.

‘ Who can it be at this hour ?’ she thought. When she picked up her phone, she saw that it was from Chloe. 

_ Hey,  _

_ Junkyard Queen. _

_ What’s up? _

_ Help me.  _

_ … _

_ I’m in love with Max.  _

Rachel’s eyes widened. She read and reread the last message six times to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. A huge smile covers her face, her heart races from excitement, all the aches from her muscles are gone and there was one thing she still needed to do: 

“Hella YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!” 


	7. It's a Heist, a Love Heist!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayt, we're approaching the Climax of the Arc. 
> 
> I think,I'll try to write shorter chapters (that are dialogue focused) from here on out. 
> 
> And so while this[chapter] wasn't rushed in any way, it was made relatively quickly. 
> 
> So I hope that you all still enjoy :)

**October 29, 2013.**

The following day, during lunch time, Rachel and Chloe were in their usual spot in the study room. They were the only ones there since Max was still busy with preparations for the Party. 

“So?” Rachel asked with the biggest smile she's ever done, “How did you come to the obvious realization of your feelings?” 

“In the parking lot, Max lost her balance and Warren held her by the waist which irritated- made me jealous and protective,” Chloe embarrassingly said. 

Rachel was just stupidly smiling, soaking up and nourishing in every bit of embarrassment from her friend.

“CAN YOU PLEASE STOP MAKING THAT FACE?!?” Chloe shouted in embarrassment. 

“I’m sorry-” Rachel wiped a tear of joy from her eye, “-I’m just so happy for you right now; I can’t stop smiling.” 

“Pervert.” 

Rachel cleared her throat and put on a serious face and tone, “Listen up Chloe, now that you finally realized it, you have to be a woman and take action.” 

Chloe suddenly became quite attentive. 

“The solution to your problem is the Halloween Party. That is where you will confess.” 

“OK, hear me out, there are two problems with your plan; one, that party is not a romantic place. Nobody wants to be confessed to during a rager.” 

“Debatable.” said Rachel.

“Second! Even if I did decide to do it there, how? I don't want to do it in the middle of a drunken crowd. And I'm pretty sure that Max won't like that either.” 

“That's why you have me.” Rachel said in confidence, “I'll make sure that your confession goes as smooth as possible.” 

“What are you-?” But before Chloe can finish,

“Did I hear confession?” 

“I think I heard someone was in love.” 

“I’m pretty sure Kari is just pretending to get our attention.” 

Three voices suddenly emerged from behind them. Steph, Kate, and Victoria entered the room one by one and sat down, inserting themselves in the conversation; something Rachel gladly welcomed. 

“What are you three doing here?” Chloe asked. 

“Doesn't matter,” said Rachel, “now that they're here, they can help us with tomorrow's heist!” 

“Heist?” Kate asked worriedly, “are we stealing something?”

“Not us.” Rachel pointed at Chloe, “Tomorrow night, Chloe will steal Max's heart so she can forever keep and treasure it!”

“So it's a… love heist?” Steph asked. 

“Exactly. In fact, that's this mission's official name: Operation Love Heist!” Rachel declared. “Now, Chloe has presented us with two problems: One, the party isn't romantic enough, and two, there's a boatload of drunk people there; not exactly a place to seek true love. Luckily, I have a plan.” 

“OK, so what's the plan?” Chloe asked. 

“I can't tell you the details exactly. But the gist is you and Max go to the party together, as planned, and then after an hour or two, you two will be alone and then that will be your chance.” 

“And you're all cool with helping me and Rachel with this plan?” Chloe asked the three. 

“Of course.” said Steph, “I've always supported you from the beginning. It was my plan to.make Max go as a pirate.” 

Chloe remembered Steph’s sketchbook; the drawing of two pirates with a M and C below the page. “Ah! The sketches in your pad? That was us? I mean, Max and I.”

“Yup. You got it. Rachel and I have been kinda planning this for a week now.” Steph replied.

“Are you saying that you all knew that I liked Max since a week ago?” Chloe asked Steph. 

“Ever since you introduced her to us” Steph replied. 

“Yeah, even Max noticed it.” Kate added. 

“Really?” Chloe asked in surprise 

“It was seriously kinda cringy already that you were so in denial all this time.” Victoria said in her usual bitchy voice. 

“What are you even doing here Victoria?” Chloe asked suspiciously, “since when were you interested in our shenanigans?”

“I-” her eyes quickly glanced at Kate for a second, “I don't have to explain myself to you.” 

“Fine.” Chloe surrendered. You don't have to explain anything. I'm glad you're on my side.” 

“Grrr… Ah. Now I feel bad!” Victoria shouted while scratching her hair.

Kate held her hand and simply nodded. 

“Fine.” Victoria sighed. She stood up, took a deep breath and said: “Kate and I are… a… couple.” She tried to sound proud and loud but her red face and audibly beating heart cut down the seriousness. 

Everyone (except Kate) was dumbfounded for a few seconds until Rachel broke the silence. 

“What?!” When did this happen?” She shouted in both surprise and excitement.

“Does Max know?” Chloe asked too, in curiosity. 

“A week ago.” Victoria Sat back down, still trying avert her eyes from the others. “Yes, Max knows. She was there when _it_ happened.” 

“Look, it's a long story.” Said Kate, also trying to hide her embarrassment, “but I think we should focus on Chloe’s situation.” 

“Yes. This discussion is tabled until after Chloe’s… Conundrum is resolved.” Rachel declared as she pounded her fist on the table like a gavel, “I'll solve both your problems right now. First, you will only be using the party as an excuse to be together on that night. You don't have to stay until everyone's drunk and disorderly.” 

“So I'll just go there, have a drink, then leave?” 

“Something like that. When you get my signal, you will go back to the dormitories and that's when you two will be alone.” Said Rachel. 

"What's your signal?" Chloe asked. 

"You'll know it when you see it." Rachel winked but Chloe still didn't know what it was going to be. 

“I can give you 10 minutes of guaranteed privacy in the dorms until students might start coming back.” Said Steph. 

“Wait,” Chloe raised a concern, “Why will we go back to the dormitories?” She looked at Rachel, trying to read her face, “You're not… going to spill something on me or Max, are you?”

“What? No. Of course not.” Rachel sounded genuine but Chloe still noticed a hidden motive. 

Chloe breathed a huge sigh. She closed her eyes and calmed down for a second, then she spoke: “Alright. I trust you. All of you. Thank you for helping me.” Chloe bowed. 

“Hey, it's no problem at all.” Said Rachel as she patted Chloe's back. “Now all you need to do is know what you have to say to Max."

Chloe lifted her head, she looked at each person in front of her, each person that was willing to help her and said confidently: “Don't worry. I got that covered.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and supporting, as always. 
> 
> Next chapter will probably the last one for this Arc.


	8. It's probably Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom. Another one! 
> 
> Enjoy :)

**October 31, 2013**

THE DAY IS HERE. The party starts at 22:00; Chloe woke up at 06:00, but only because she couldn't sleep at all last night. She still doesn't know what Rachel was up to and all the preparation in the world still feels lacking. She sat up and reached for her secret stash. As she tried to light the lighter (to light her weed), she had a moment of self reflection, ‘ Maybe being high isn’t a good idea. ’ 

“Fuck.” She put the lighter and weed back in the box. ‘ I smell like crap. ’ she thought as she smelled herself. So after a quick shower, she went through her drawer and pulled out her best quality Firewalk T-shirt. ‘ This’ll do. ’ she thought. 

She put on her usual t-shirt and jeans combo but this time, she was stepping it up a notch: she cleaned her boots, her jeans had no stains, she didn’t have bed hair, and most important of all: perfume. Not only did she want to look good for Max, she also wanted to smell not like cigarettes. She digs through the stuff in her drawer until she saw a small box wrapped in a nice gift-wrapping paper. ‘ Hey, I remember this. Rachel got me this for my 18th birthday, hoping that I’ll start wearing perfume, I never did but just for today... I think I’ll wear this one. ’ 

She smelled herself, it was revolting, like her body was rejecting the smell of perfume. ‘ Better than smelling like cigarettes. ’ she thought. ‘ Should I put on makeup? ’ she looked at herself in the mirror and got chills as soon as she even thought about it. ‘ Maybe not. ’ 

“Chloe! Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!” Joyce called from downstairs. 

Only then did Chloe realize that she was famished; all her excitement and preparation (both mentally and physically) masked the sound and feeling of her empty stomach. 

“Coming, mom!” she shouted. 

* * *

As she went down the kitchen, her mouth watered as she saw the crispy bacon and perfectly cooked eggs. But Joyce, was the one who was most surprised. 

“Chloe, you’re up early and uh... you look good.” Joyce said in surprise. 

“How do I usually look?” Chloe asked.

“I’m sorry, you usually just… don’t care about how others see you.” Joyce was amazed, it's as if Chloe went through a transformation. 

“Nice save.” said Chloe. 

“Are you going to school this early?” 

“Yeah. Gotta meet Rachel so that we can get ready for the party later.” Chloe sat down and started chowing down on the bacon. 

“You mean the party that starts in-” Joyce looks at her watch, “15 hours? You never ever go to a party early.”

Chloe avoids her eyes and ears by focusing on the bacon and eggs in front of her. 

“What’s going on with you?” Joyce observed her daughter, looking at all the signs and putting it together like a computer, “It's that girl, isn't it? What was her name… Max, right?” 

Chloe gagged upon hearing [Max's] name, confirming Joyce's suspicion.

“Aha.” She said as she sat down next to Chloe. “I had a feeling about you two.” 

Chloe finally swallowed the food in her mouth so that she could talk properly. Joyce can read her like a book, and she didn't want to lie to her mom. “Fine.” She let out a breath, “I'm going to... confess to her later.” 

A smile manifested on Joyce's face. “Oh, Chloe, that's so nice; I know that you probably already know that I support you all the way; I'm so happy for you.” 

“I'm still fucking scared, mom.” Chloe's hand began to shake, “like, a part of me knows she feels the same way but there's always a part of me that worries that she doesn't.” 

“Chloe,” She held her daughter's hand, “It's only natural to be scared.” She said in a calming voice, “I can't tell you if everything will be alright, I don't know that. But knowing you, I'm sure you can handle whatever comes your way.” 

“‘morning Joyce, breakfast smells nice.” David said in his usual authoritarian voice. He sniffs the air, smelling something unusual. “You're wearing a different perfume?” he asked his wife.

“No. In fact, it's Chloe.” She told David. 

Chloe didn't even bother looking at him and just kept eating. 

“Huh.” David sat down and looked at Chloe, as if he were scanning her. “Yeah, you look different. You actually don't look like a loser for once.” he said. 

“Says the guy with an era-inappropriate mustache.” Chloe retorted. 

“Always something to say, huh?” 

“Come on guys, it's too early to fight.” Joyce tried to break the tension between the two. “And besides,” She looks at Chloe, “Don't you have bigger fish to catch?” 

“Right.” Chloe took the last bite of the bacon on her plate and stood up. “I'll see you later, mom.” She took her jacket and headed for the door.

“Good luck!” Joyce cheered. 

As soon as Chloe was out of the house, David asked: “Good luck? What was that about?” 

“Well, David,” Joyce said lovingly, “Your step-daughter is in love again.” 

“Really?” David said in surprise, “Well let's hope her next girlfriend isn't a hell raiser like Rachel.” 

“Come on, Rachel is a good person,” Joyce defended, “but Max is… different. I feel like she's the type of person Chloe needs right now.” 

David thought for a second, he put his fork down and asked his wife: “Max? As in Maxine Caulfield?” he sounded a bit worried. 

“Yeah.” Joyce noticed the slight tone difference.

“Chloe's in love with Max?” He asked, making sure he got it right. 

“They met like three weeks ago. Why?” She asked. 

David took a moment, trying to decide on his next move, but he decided that Joyce needed to know. “It's probably nothing but, I think there's something you need to know about Max-.”

* * *

As Chloe was driving Maui around Arcadia Bay, there was something she realized: it's very early in the morning. There was literally nothing to do for the next 10 hours. But driving around aimlessly finally took its toll. She drove to Balckwell and headed straight for Rachel's dorm room. 

“Rachel?” She asked as she knocked on the door. 

Nothing. 

“Yo, Rachel!” She said as she knocked again, but now, the door opened and a very clearly-just-woke-up Rachel greeted her. 

“Chloe?” She asked still half asleep, wiping her eyes, “The fuck? It's like 7:30 in the morning.” 

“Sorry for being hella early. I couldn't sleep at all last night so I got up early today.” 

“Understandable.” Rachel opened the door and gestured for Chloe to enter, “I think Max is still asleep. Just stay here for now.” she said while yawning.

Chloe entered Rachel's dorm room. She looked around; nothing’s changed. A few new photos on the wall but overall still the same look and feel it had three years ago. 

“Hey,” Rachel sniffed the air, “I know that scent. Finally decided to wear it huh?” 

“I figured I'd only wear it on special occasions.” Chloe said with a braggy tone. 

“Amen to that.” Rachel collected her bathing stuff, “Look, imma just take a shower and we'll discuss our strategy for later, OK?” 

“Fine by me.” Chloe replied as she plopped on Rachel's bed. 

* * *

“What does that mean?” Joyce asked. 

“I don't know.” Replied David, “That's why I said it could be nothing. Look, don't tell Chloe yet.”

“I mean, if it's nothing then there shouldn't be any harm in telling her, right?”

“Right. But I just need some time to make sure that it's nothing.” Said David. “Look, I don't want to say or do anything that will make Chloe worry or sad. So maybe we can keep this to ourselves for the time being.” 

Joyce nods. “Alright. As soon as you have more, tell me.” 

“I promise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooo mystery setup. What could it be? *wink. *finger gun.
> 
> Next chapter is the last chapter of this arc. 
> 
> Thanks again for all your support and kudos :)


	9. The Best Plan is No Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, sorry for the long delay. Kinda lost my mojo for a little while (been playing a lot of Dark Souls 2). But when I got it back, I decided to rewrite and sort of restructure the story, hence even more delay. 
> 
> and so with that restructure, this is the second to the last chapter of this arc. 
> 
> another note: When I say "Pool or Pool Area", its generally the area where the pool is (is it a gym? an indoor pool? I'll just call it pool)

**October 31, 2013** -21:00

After a long day of scouting and planning with Rachel and Steph, they were finally done. Steph was getting ready with the finishing touches of both the party and the heist, and Rachel was walking Chloe back to the dorm where she would fetch Max. 

“OK, let's go over it one last time.” Said Rachel. 

“Right. So at around 23:00, I will go to the VIP area to look for you.” Said Chloe. 

“Where I will ‘spill’ my drink on you.”

“Then I go back out and ask Max if I can change in her dorm room.”

“Then, on the way back?”

“On the way back, Steph will turn on the lights in front of the dorm, giving it a romantic-ish vibe.” 

“Then the rest is up to you.” Rachel placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder. “You got this. Or do you want to practice?” She jokingly offered. 

“No.” Chloe said firmly.

“You sure? Come on, pretend I'm Max.” She insisted. “Oh, Chloe, this is all a surprise! My heart is not ready for your love!” She mimicked Max’s voice. 

“Stop. She doesn't talk 19th century Victorian Era.” said Chloe. 

“You still remember how to kiss?” Rachel asked her teasingly.

“O-of course I do! Why would you even-” Chloe blushed at the question, imagining if she will.be able to kiss Max later. “Look, just drop it. You're getting on my nerves.” 

“Alright, alright.” Rachel surrendered. “Well-” She said as they stood outside of the dorm, “-I'll see you later.” 

“Thanks again, Rachel.” Chloe said as she gave her a quick hug. 

“Anytime.” Rachel started walking away. But Chloe had one last concern:

“Hey!” She shouted “You're going to spill water on me, right?” 

“What was that? Can't hear you very well!” Rachel shouted back but it was obvious that she heard Chloe word for word. 

“Rachel, you're going to spill water on me, right?!” She asked once again. 

But Rachel said nothing and instead blasted her with finger guns before running back to the main building. 

‘ Oh, she's definitely going to spill beer on me. ’ She thought. 

* * *

Chloe was standing in front Max's door. She takes a moment to calm and mentally prepare herself. ‘ OK, you can do this. You got this. ’ 

She knocked on the door. “Max?” She called out. “It's Chloe.” 

A muffled reply from inside the room: “Ah. Just a minute.” and exactly one minute later, the door opened. “Hey, Chloe.” Max greeted her. “Steph just texted me, she said to head to the theater club’s dressing room.” 

“I got the same text, and you know, we did agree that we were going to go together so- you know-.” Chloe trailed off, not knowing how to finish what she just said. *ehem. “Shall we?” Chloe did a “after you” gesture.

“Don't mind if I do.” Max said as she left her room and locked the door. 

As the two were walking to the theater club's dressing room, Chloe couldn't handle the awkward silence so she asked: “So, you excited for your first Blackwell Party?” 

“Well-” Max was clearly embarrassed, “-it's my first High School party, period.” 

“What?!” Chloe was surprised. “You mean to tell me that you were never invited to any party in your High School in Seattle?” 

“Well, I was invited. I just never went to any of them since-” Max paused for a second, “since I wasn't really into parties. I mean I would rather stay at home and watch a movie rather than mingle with drunk and smelly people.” 

“Well I guess I can understand that. Not everyone is a party person” Said Chloe. “So why’d you attend this one?” She asked. 

“I just- I just don't want to be that girl who was so drab and boring. I didn't want to be the shy cliché geek.” 

“Nothing wrong with being a shy cliché geek… In my opinion.” Chloe patted Max's back. 

“Thanks. But I guess being out of character is good from time to time.” Max opened the door to the theater club, “and besides, with you and the others there, I'm pretty sure I'll have a good time.” 

“But not too good?” Chloe half-joked. 

“Well, I don't know. Whatever happens happens, right?” Max teased as they entered the club room.

There wasn't anybody there except for Steph, who was dressed as a black fluffy fox. 

“Max! Chloe!” Steph called out. “Just in time guys. Your costumes are ready.” 

The two looked at their costumes hanging on mannequins. One had a pirate hat, a red shirt, dark brown pants, a thick leather belt, a black vest, and a long brown trench coat. The other was similar except it had a grey shirt, beige pants, and black knee-high boots. 

“I call the one with the hat!” Chloe quickly said. 

“Well, you are the Captain, Captain.” Max replied. 

“Oh yeah, there's only one available dressing area so you just talk a pong yourselves on who goes first.” Steph picked up her bag, “I gotta take care of some things” She winked at Chloe, which prompted her to nod in response. 

They were finally alone. “I'll change first.” Chloe said as she took the costume from the mannequin and headed for the dressing area. 

* * *

~22:30~

The two girls were nervously walking together towards the pool. There were already people both inside and outside who have started partying, and so they pretty much blended in with everyone else who was in costume. 

“Heist time.” Chloe said to herself as she psyched herself up. “Hey,” She said to Max, “Let's go inside and have a beer! You drink, right?” 

“I can handle a beer or two.” Said Max.

“Alright!” Chloe said excitedly. 

At the entrance of the building, Rachel was already there, waiting for them (she was wearing a sexy latex cat costume). “Yo, the two pirates of Arcadia Bay!” She shouted, pretending to be tipsy. 

“Come on Rachel. You can't possibly be drunk yet.” Chloe joked. 

“You're right.” She said seriously. “Come on in!” She invited them, switching back to her happy vibe. 

As the three went in, Rachel was secretly texting someone. Chloe knew that it was probably part of the plan, since she still doesn't know what Victoria and Kate are going to do, but Max was just surprised at just how loud everything was. Chloe noticed this. 

“Yo, Max! You OK?” She asked. 

“Yeah!” Max shouted. “I just didn't think it'd be this loud! I can literally feel my clothes vibrating! Is it always this loud?!” 

“Not always!” Chloe replied. “Come on!” She took Max's hand. “Let's get a drink!” 

Chloe looked over to Rachel. She simply smiled and pointed at her phone. [Chloe] immediately knew what it meant. She pulled out her phone and checked the message: 

_ VIP. 10 mins.  _

Chloe nodded and Rachel went away. 

“Where's she going?!” Max asked. 

“Had to take care of some stuff in the VIP lounge.” Chloe replied. “Let's get those drinks!” 

* * *

15 mins later~ 

Rachel was peeking out of the VIP area, wondering where Chloe was. 

“Hey, where is she?” Victoria asked Rachel. 

“I don't know. Can't see them from here.” Rachel replied. 

“Maybe I should go out there and look for her.” she suggested. 

“No need. She's here.” Rachel said as she opened the entrance cover (the VIP lounge is like a four sided tent) 

Chloe entered with a blush on her face. “Sorry. Sorry. We got a little carried away.” 

“I bet you did.” Victoria said teasingly. 

“Whatever. Where's Max?” Rachel asked. 

“She had to do the number 1. Apparently beer makes her pee.” She nonchalantly said.

“Didn't need to hear that. OK.” Rachel got a glass of water. “You ready?” 

“Spill me, Bro.” Chloe put her chest forward and spread her arms out. 

“What?” 

“Nothing. Come on. Let's do this.” 

“Alright.” Rachel poured the glass of water on Chloe's chest. 

“Whoa! That's cold!” She exclaimed. 

“Alright! Now go out there and-” before Rachel can finish, they heard none other than Nathan Prescott drunkenly shouting. “The fuck?!” 

* * *

Rachel, Chloe, and Victoria all sprinted out of the tent to see what the commotion was all about. What they saw shocked them.

[A drunk] Nathan was screaming and pushing Max rather violently.

“YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, BITCH?!?!” Nathan screamed as he pushed Max closer to the pool. 

“What are you talking about? You're drunk, stop it.” Max didn't really try to defend herself, thinking that she can still solve this with words. 

“FUCK YOU! AND FUCK YOUR FAMILY! BUNCH OF ELITIST MOTHERFU-” Nathan was suddenly pushed to the floor. 

“Get the fuck off her, freak!” Chloe was standing over Nathan, making sure that Max was behind her. 

“Chloe, stop.” Max turned her around. “Let's just-” She saw Nathan getting up and charging towards them. “Chloe!” She shouted as she pushed her away; Nathan tackled Max into the pool. 

Everyone was now focused on the kerfuffle that was going on between the two. The music stopped and some students were taking videos while many others were simply watching, some even cheering; taking sides, betting who'd win. 

“Nathan, stop!” Victoria shouted in vain.

“Chloe!” Rachel shouted “Get Max! Well handle Nathan!” 

“I'll leave him to you!” Chloe got back on her feet and without a second thought, jumped in the pool. 

Rachel removed her shoes and also jumped in the pool. Together, they separated Nathan and Max (the former was trying to hit Max). Rachel put Nathan in a choke hold while Chloe grabbed Max like a rescue swimmer and saw for the edge of the pool. Kate and Victoria helped them get out of the pool. 

“You should get out of here.” Kate told Chloe. 

“We'll make sure Nathan doesn't follow you.” Victoria added. 

“Thanks.” Chloe replied as she and Max ran out of the pool grounds. 

Nathan saw them running away and struggled to be free of Rachel’s hold. “Let me go, Rachel! HEY! CAULFIELD! THIS ISN'T OVER!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. 

“Calm down, Nathan!” Rachel snapped. “What in the fucking hell is wrong with you?!” 

Nathan, seeing that everyone was staring at him, finally calmed down. Rachel released him from her hold and they slowly made their way out of the pool. 

* * *

“Um, so, what the fuck?” Rachel snapped at Nathan again. 

“Damn it, Nathan, you could've hurt somebody!” Victoria scolded. 

“Can you bitches just shut the fuck up for one goddamn minute?” He said as he looked through his pockets for his medicine.

They went back to the VIP lounge so that they could “talk” to him.

“What's the fucking deal with you? Why are you bullying Max?” Rachel asked a bit more calmly now. 

“Fuck you.” Nathan sounded defeated, sad, even. He thought for a second. “She's a fucking… fucking rich kid prick.” He said angrily. 

“You're a fucking rich kid prick.” Victoria retorted. Kate tried to calm her down.

“Yeah. I am. But at least I'm proud of my family name-.” 

“You really shouldn't be.” Rachel murmured under her breath. 

“-unlike Max. Hiding it like it's a fucking zombie bite.” Nathan took a beer from the cooler. “That's also probably why she's engaged to that loser.” 

The room was dead silent. They were all staring at Nathan, who was still just chugging down the beer like nothing happened. Kate broke the silence. 

“Did you say engaged?” She asked. 

“Yeah.” Nathan replied. 

“As in to be wed?” Victoria added. 

“Yeah.” Nathan was beginning to be annoyed by the repetitive questions. “Look, you obviously don't know this, but the Caulfields are a very prominent family in Seattle, they basically own that city.” 

“Who's she engaged to?” Rachel asked. 

“A guy named Sam O'Connor. Son of some big shot in LA.” 

“Ah, shit.” Rachel worriedly whispered to herself. 

“-I don't know who the fuck he is but if he's marrying Max then I guess he's a loser too.” Nathan bragged.

“You shut the fuck up.” Rachel said seriously. She turned around to the two with a look on her face. “I think we all know what each other is thinking.” 

Rachel pulled out her phone and tried calling Chloe but the line was dead. "Shit. The water must've ruined her phone." 

“I'll text Steph.” Victoria pulled out her phone and started texting. 

Kate noticed that Rachel had a worried look on her face, “Are you OK, Rachel?” She asked. 

“Don't worry about me, Kate” She tried her best to smile. “Vic, what did Steph say?” 

“Shit. They already went inside the dorm.” 

“Fuck. I'm gonna go after them.” Rachel said as she sprinted out of the tent. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM! Yeah, I'm going to introduce a new character later down the line but for now, were sticking with the original cast. 
> 
> Currently writing the next chapter (i promise it's the last one for this arc) :)


	10. What Mustn't Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is the final chapter for this Arc (The Halloween Conundrum Arc) I decided to make it a [relatively] longer one. 
> 
> I hope I didn't DCEU this one since I tried to [subtly] plant a lot of seeds for the future of this story in this chapter.

~A few minutes earlier ~

Chloe and Max ran out of the pool area as fast as they could. All they wanted was to get as far away from Nathan as possible. So they ran, seemingly aimlessly, but Chloe cleverly led [Max and her] to the women's dorm. Max was surprised with what she saw.

Lights. As if it were Christmas, there were lights on the trees, some cute Halloween decorations around the dorm grounds. The mood was set.

"Whoa." Max said in amazement as she looked at the decorations. "this is amazing. Is it always like this?" 

' Nice one, Steph .' Chloe complimented her in her mind. "Well, this is a first for Blackwell, actually." Chloe replied.

It was a half truth since it was really the first time the women's dorm was decorated for Halloween but it wasn't because of Blackwell.

If only they weren't soaking wet and in danger of getting sick, Chloe would've confessed right there and then but they needed to change first. 

"Hey, do you mind if I change and shower inside?" Chloe asked. 

"I don't own the dorms, Chloe." Max chuckled. "You can do whatever you want. But what are you going to do about... clothes? We kinda left ours in the theater club room." she asked. 

"Oh, no sweat, I still have some clothes in Rachel's room, and-" she pulled out a key from her wallet. "-I have a spare key." she bragged. "Don't tell her, she doesn't know."

"Cool... I'll go first, I guess." Max said as she entered the dorm. 

"Sure. I need to break into my friend's room first anyway." she joked. 

Not wanting to be a complete dick, she thought it would be a good idea to text Rachel first. So she pulled out her phone and discovered that it was dead, soaking wet. ' Damn it! Whatever, I'm sure she'll be fine with it. ' she told herself. 

They headed inside and went straight to their respective rooms. Chloe removed her soaking wet pirate costume, put it in a garbage bag, and searched for some of her old clothes in Rachel's drawers. And at the very bottom, she found it. 

' Score! ' she silently cheered as she took a shirt and a pair of black jeans. But there was something else at the bottom: a photo strip of Rachel and Chloe they took on their last date; before they “broke up”. She faintly smiles as she reminisced about a time before. 

* * *

Rachel ran as fast as she could. She wasn’t even sure how to say what she needed to say but all she knew was that Chloe needed to know. As she was running, she suddenly bumped into Steph, knocking them both down. 

“Ow, fuck, Rachel?!” Steph groaned. “What the fuck is going on?” 

“Fuck.” Rachel quickly got up, she reached out to help Steph, “Sorry. I’ll explain later. I just need to get to Chloe right now.” 

“But the magic is about to happen.” Steph took Rachel’s hand and got up. She can see that Rachel was indeed worried. “Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly. 

“Yeah.” Rachel replied. “Look I'll explain later. I need to go. If you want to follow, then fine.” Rachel ran off inside the dorm. 

Steph stood there for a second ‘ No way am I going to stay out here now. ’ She said to herself, and followed Rachel inside. 

As the two burst in the dorm hallway, Rachel noticed the light in her room was open. “Chloe? Are you in here?” She asked as she knocked on the door. 

“Yeah!” Chloe replied from inside, she opened the door, “I just had to get some clothes since, mine was wet and-” She noticed Rachel's panting and worried look “-are you OK?” She also noticed Steph behind her. 

“How’d you get in here-? It doesn’t matter.” Rachel said as she and Steph entered the room. “Have you told her yet?” She asked in a panic. 

“N-no. Not yet. I was going to do it after we took a shower. What's going on?” now even Chloe was getting worried. 

Rachel let out a big sigh. She never liked the feeling of possibly hurting her friend but sometimes it was necessary. 

“There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it.” Rachel closed her eyes and paused for a second, summoning the courage to tell Chloe; even Steph was paying attention. “Max… is engaged.”

“What?!” Steph reacted in disbelief. “Engaged? As in marry someone engaged?” She asked. 

“Yeah.” Rachel was looking at Chloe who was stunned but soon thought that it was a prank. 

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Chloe chuckled. “If this is some weird way of psyching me up, it's not working very well.” 

Rachel's face remained serious. She shook her head “It's not a joke, Chloe. I'm serious.” She said sternly. 

“OK, Junkyard Queen,” Chloe turned serious too, “If she's engaged, which by the way very cliche, where's her ring? Why hasn't she told anyone?” 

“She's hiding it. She's hiding a lot of things from us.” Rachel replied. “She probably asked the teachers to keep quiet about it too.” 

Chloe, still in disbelief, “Where did you even hear about this?” Chloe asked. 

“Nathan.” Rachel replied. 

“Seriously?” Steph interjected. 

“Exactly. Seriously?” Chloe said in agreement. “You actually believe what he said; anything that he says?” 

“Look, why do you think that Nathan was so mad at Max?” She asked. 

“I just assumed that he was being an asshole. Like he is about everything.” Chloe replied. 

“What in the hell happened out there?” Steph asked but her question was ignored. 

“Nathan was angry because he found out that Max was hiding the fact that she was born into a very rich and very powerful family, even more than the Prescotts. He thought that it was some sort of weird brag towards him, I think.” Rachel explained. 

“OK, wait.” Chloe was confused “So you’re telling me that Max is actually the daughter of a rich and prominent family?” 

“Yeah I looked it up a bit, the Caulfield family has an enormous amount of influence in both the art world and politics; they practically own Seattle City.” Rachel said. 

“And Max is what- arranged to be married to someone? 1800’s Disney style?” Chloe asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“Who’s she marrying?” Steph asked. 

Rachel paused in hesitation, just for a moment, “A son of some rich businessman in L.A.” 

Chloe was in disbelief. There was no way that Max was the daughter of a rich family; she wore (relatively) cheap clothes, her phone or laptop wasn’t the latest and greatest, she just didn’t have the aura of a rich kid (someone like Nathan or Victoria). And to top it off, Max was engaged? That was simply impossible. No one arranges marriages in this day and age. 

“It’s gotta be bullshit.” Chloe murmured. “There’s no way. Nathan has to be lying.” 

“I wish he was. I really do. But I know Nathan. He doesn’t lie about this stuff.” Rachel sadly replied. “Look I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go through with this. But… I just needed you to know.” 

After a 30 second silence between them, reality finally caught up with them. “Chloe?” Max called out in the hall. “Are you still in Rachel’s room?” 

“Fuck.” Chloe whispered. “Hide. Closet.” 

Rachel and Steph scrambled to fit themselves in the closet. They barely fit, standing face to face, about 4 inches away from each other. Chloe closed the [closet] door. It was dark but they could still barely hear the outside. 

“You can take a shower now.” Max said. 

“Yeah. I just need to…” Chloe looked around half-pretending to look for something, then she grabbed the towel on the chair. “Grab the towel.”

They went out of the room and Chloe made sure to shut the door loudly so that the two [Rachel and Steph] can know that they’re alone. 

They quietly came out of the closet. Rachel checked to see if Max and Chloe were still in the hallway; they were. So they needed to stay in the room until it was clear. 

“Hey, Rachel.” Steph whispered. 

“Yeah?” Rachel replied softly. 

“I may be crazy but, it's just that- I feel like- I feel like you were hiding something from Chloe.” 

“What? What are you talking about? I told her everything I knew.”

“If you say so.” Steph said to herself.

Rachel saw Max go into her room. “Alright Max is in her room. Let's get out of here.” 

“Guess the love heist was a failure.” Steph quietly whispered to herself. 

Rachel and Steph snuck out of the dorms and headed back to the pool area.

* * *

While Chloe was taking a shower, she was still bothered with Rachel’s revelation, so she decided to do what she does best: confrontation 

So after [taking a shower], she got dressed and knocked on Max’s door; she let her in.

“Hey, Max, um.” she let out a big sigh “I heard this stupid rumor-” Chloe paused for a moment. “-I heard that you are, like, super rich and-” she nervously chuckled “-that… you... were… engaged? Like, to be wed.” 

“Oh.” she said with a slight tone of sadness. 

“So it's true?” Chloe said in a calm shock.

“Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you- or anybody.” Max sounded sad, regretful even. “But I didn’t know how to say it or even how it would ever come up naturally. So, I never said anything, I’m sorry.” 

Chloe felt a sharp pain in her chest, like she had just been let down, betrayed. But she can’t be angry about it, she can’t scream or be angry at Max. They were friends. That’s it. Chloe wanted to be more but now that’s not possible. It sucks. But all she can do now is put on a facade and pretend that everything is normal. 

“Don’t apologize.” she assured Max, “But I do need to tell you that Nathan has been spreading this fact and I think it would be wise if you tell us, your friends, about it. You know so that there’s no awkwardness between us.”

“I get it. You’re right. I’ll… inform everyone and answer all your questions on Monday-. Who else knows?” she asked. 

“Pretty much everyone. Nathan has a big mouth. But as far as they know, it’s just a rumor so if you confirm it, there will be no more elephants in the room.” 

Max nodded in agreement. 

A moment of silence~

“Are you going back to the party?” Max asked Chloe. 

“Nah. After everything, kinda killed the vibe to be honest.” she replied. “Probably just gonna go home; kinda tired. How ‘bout you?” 

“Probably just gonna sleep. The vibe’s dead for me too and, I guess I have a lot of things to think about.” Max chuckled to lighten the mood a bit.

“Right.” Chloe headed for the door. “Just uh, just be ready for the questions on Monday, when you tell everyone about your… marriage and the other stuff.” 

“I know. I promise I’ll be as honest as I can be. No more secrets. Especially among friends. I promise.” 

“Look forward to the grilling, Caulfield.” Chloe said under a smile but her heart was holding back the tears. She closed the door; her head was blank, her heart even more. She walked to her truck, ignoring everyone and everything she passed by. 

She got in, there was only one place that she was able to let out all her anger and sadness; she started the engine and drove away.

* * *

American Rust. A place that seems detached from the rest of the world. A hideout, a place of safety, a fortress of solitude. The place where Rachel and Chloe can be happy or sad either together or alone. 

And now she was alone, after William died, it was a feeling that she always dreaded, a feeling she wanted to avoid at all costs. 

She walked towards their hideout, with only the moonlight illuminating the area. She took her trusty bat, went outside and stared at an old sign from an old diner she used to eat at. 

“Hey Max, I love you. But turns out you're going to marry someone else! And you didn’t even have the balls to tell us!” She shouted as loud as she could while she swung the bat as hard as she could. The already wrecked sign got another dent on it. 

“Were you also secretly looking down on me? Little miss rich kid? You think being friends with someone poor makes you cool?!” Chloe took another swing, adding another dent on the sign. 

“How fucking stupid am I? Thinking that I can have a life with you! Fuck. This. Life.” she swung again and again and again until she nearly exhausted herself. And with one final breath, she swung and broke the bat. She fell on her knees and panted heavily, tears were rolling down on her face. But suddenly a rather familiar yet annoying voice;

“Gotta say, you’re stronger than I thought you were.” said the voice. 

Chloe looked and saw David. “What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked angrily. 

“Well when I saw my step-daughter crying and driving away from a party she usually comes home drunk from, I tend to worry.” David explained. 

“What do you want, David?” she said, annoyed. 

“I know… what you planned to do. Joyce told me.” David sounded sad. 

“Did she tell you about the part how it was fucked up before it even started?” Chloe asked sarcastically. “Wait a minute.” She stood up and confronted David. “Did you know?”

David had an uneasy look on his face. 

“You’re head of security. I bet you background check every student in Blackwell, especially one who recently transferred.” 

“Chloe-.” David tried to say something but Chloe cut her off. 

“Did. You. Know?” She asked seriously. 

David paused. He didn’t want to lie but he didn’t want to hurt Chloe. There was no choice for him except for the truth. “Yes.” he said without hesitation. 

“Oh, fuck. I knew it. I knew it!” Chloe said in disgust. “Every time. Every time I think that you're a good guy or you care, you just go and do something that proves to me that you're not!” 

“Chloe-. I'm sorry. I never thought-. I never thought that you’d fall in love with Max, I mean you guys met like a month ago.” 

“I don’t want to hear it.” she said sternly. “There is literally nothing you can say that will make me care!” 

“You are absolutely right.” David said sincerely. 

“What?” What David said certainly caught her attention. 

“You’re right, Chloe. There’s probably nothing I can say that will make you change your mind about me. But this isn’t about what I need to do. This is about what you need to do.” 

“This is a bad attempt at making me feel better.” 

“Chloe, in the three years I’ve known you, there are only a few- few things that I respect about you-.” 

“You are not good at this, are you?” she asked rhetorically. 

“-And one of those things is that you never, ever, give up. And I speak from personal experience.”

“Get to the point, man.” 

“My point is, if you really love Max, you won’t give up on her.” 

Chloe shakes her head in disagreement, in defeat. “She's engaged to someone else, David. Do you expect me to what-? Find a way to break them up? To ruin her engagement?” 

David simply asked Chloe: “Do you love Max?”

She stopped to think for a moment. This was the longest conversation she's had with David. It always ended with either of them walking away from each other but somehow, neither of them has left. It was weird, but maybe, just maybe, for the first time ever, David was who she needed right now. 

“Yeah.” She said confidently. “I do.” 

David can't help but put on a faint smile. “Good. It's good to know that you're sure about your feelings.” 

“I was pretty sure about Rachel.” 

“And you two were happy while you were together- even now, aren’t you?” 

“What should I do?” Chloe asked in desperation. 

“I can't tell you what you need to do because honestly, I don't know.” David slowly inched forward, closer to Chloe. “But knowing you, I know you'll find a way to make it work. So don’t give up.” 

“You’re really not good at this are you?” Chloe jokingly said. 

“No. I’m not.” David admitted. “But I try my best.” 

She grinned slightly. Is this really David she’s talking to? The guy who keeps calling her girly, the guy who orders her around like they’re soldiers, the guy she hates. But when she stopped to think about it, David was always secretly there for her. He made sure that she stayed out of (too much) trouble, he would drive her home when she’s drunk, he was always just so annoying when doing so. 

“I think I’m starting to see it, honestly.” Chloe said with a faint smile. She then awkwardly tried to hug David but he saw and felt the same type of awkwardness. So he gestured for her to stop. 

“I don’t think we’re... there yet.” he said.

“Right.” Chloe backed off a bit. 

“But, I hope we get there… one day.” David raised his hand and offered a fist bump. 

“One day.” Chloe didn’t leave David hanging and bumped their fists. 

David smiled. “Now go follow your heart.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Alright. Alright. I actually took some inspiration from personal experience to write this one, so I hope you guys enjoyed it :)
> 
> Also I sort of debated whether it would be David or William’s ghost who will give Chloe advice/words of wisdom. I decided to go with David since I think it would be a nice progression for Chloe, since she doesn't rely on the past anymore to shape her future (or something like that). Plus I've always wanted to amend Chloe and David's step father - step daughter relationship.
> 
> Now the direction of this story can either end with a happy ending or a bittersweet ending; and in Life is Strange fashion, I think I'm going with a bittersweet ending.


	11. Who? What? When? Where?... Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah. It's good to be back. Sorry for going AWOL for a long time, this Corona Virus is a b*thc. Chapters may come out sooner or later depending on my schedule. Anyway this is the first chapter of The Secrets Arc. 
> 
> P.S. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but just imagine the Study Room in this story like the one in Community.

**November 4, 2013**

Monday. After school. Rachel and Chloe invited Victoria, Kate, and Warren (he overheard the invitation and they found it awkward to say no to him). So now they were all in the study room, eager to ask Max questions they (specifically Chloe) may not like the answers to. 

On the big rectangular table in the side of the study room, there were 7 people sitting: (two people on each side; from top left, clockwise) Max, Rachel, Kate, Victoria, Warren, {empty seat}, Steph, and Chloe. 

The air was a bit awkward but somehow exciting, it was the first time they were going to hear about Max’s past. [Max] was nervous, she never really liked talking about her family or her wealth but her friends are more important than her pride or ego, so she was willing to clear the air once and for all. 

“Alright.” Rachel started. “Now I know that we have a lot of questions, let's keep it civilized and… sensitive.” She looks at Max. “You don’t have to answer any questions you're not comfortable with, alright?” 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Max assured Rachel. 

“I have a question!” Warren blurted out with his hand raised. “I heard that you were like, very rich. Just how rich are we talking about?”

“My parents own a large multinational conglomerate company in Seattle.” answered Max. 

“So you’re like... super rich?” Warren asked again. 

“For lack of a better term, yeah, I guess I’m “super rich.”” Max answered using air quotes. 

“Why did you keep it a secret?” Victoria asked. 

“When I was a freshman, in Seattle, I had a lot of fake friends, people who wanted to get close to me just for my money or for the status. When I caught on, and woke up from the illusion of their “friendship”, most of them left me alone, some even resented me.” Max explained. 

“Is that why you moved to Blackwell?” Kate asked. 

“That’s one reason. I figured that maybe moving to a new school with a clean slate, would be better than whatever I had back in Seattle.” Max then suddenly became a bit embarrassed, “but, what I didn’t realize was how hard it was to actually make real friends.” 

“I think you’re doing well now.” Rachel commented while giving a secret wink to Chloe. 

“And I thank every one of you for it. It feels nice to have real friends again.” Max said with her usual bright smile. 

“Are you really getting married?” Kate asked. 

“Well, not yet. Though I am engaged.” Max answered. 

“To whom?” Rachel asked. 

“His name is Sam O'Connor. He was one of the few friends I had in Seattle.”

“Why are you marrying him?” Rachel followed up.

“My dad and his dad came to an agreement that if Sam and I were to marry in the future, it would be some sort of awesome art-business combination powerhouse thing.” Max explained. 

“What can you tell us about him?” Rachel followed up again.

“What can I say? He's from California but moved to Seattle when he was 10. He also likes art. He's smart, funny, and very creative.” Max smiled as if she was reminiscing the good old days. 

While everybody was listening to Max, imagining what kind of person Sam is, Steph was keeping a close eye on Rachel's movement and body language. She clearly saw [Rachel] inaudibly say ‘shit’. 

“What is he like?” Victoria asked. 

“Wha-? I just told you.” 

“No, I mean what's he like… physically?” Victoria corrected with a hint of excitement. “Is he handsome? Tall? You know, the works.” 

“Why on earth would you want to know that?” Max asked. 

Kate gave Victoria a very disapproving glare. 

“What? You're all thinking about it.” Victoria defended. 

“Fine.” Max pulls out her phone and gives it to Victoria; On the phone was a picture of Sam. 

Victoria had a rather unique comment: “Oh damn, he looks like a young Colin Farrell.” 

“Really?” Warren took the phone from Victoria. “Nah, he looks like a young Tom Cruise.” 

“No he doesn't.” Victoria snatched the phone from Warren and showed it to Kate. “Young Tom Cruise or Colin Farrell?” 

“I- I don't know either of those guys.” Kate embarrassingly confessed. 

“I have never heard a sadder statement from my girlfriend!” Victoria pretended to cry. She then showed it to Chloe, “How ‘bout you?” 

“Oh- uh- young Colin Farrell, definitely young Colin Farrell.” she answered as if she sprang back to reality. 

Everyone laughed except for Chloe and Steph. 

Chloe passed the phone to Steph. She looked at it for a second, said nothing, and gave it back to Chloe, who gave it back to Max. 

“How'd the two of you meet?” Kate asked. 

“Well, like I said, we were classmates during freshman year. But we really got to know each other when the teacher made us partners for our first project.”

“Then you guys just… hit it?” Warren asked. 

“I guess? I mean, yeah, we did go on a few dates in junior year.” 

“Are you happy with the engagement? Or rather, are you happy about marrying him- in the future?” Chloe suddenly asked. 

Max paused for a second to think. “I am.” she answered without pause or hesitation. 

Chloe could feel the sharp pain in her heart. But all she could do was put on a smile, pretending to be happy for Max. But deep down she couldn't help feel sad and frustrated. 

Rachel noticed this so she got up and declared: “Alright guys, I think we've kept Max long enough after school.” 

“It's no problem, really.” Max said. 

Rachel looked at Steph, who was still looking at her, and asked: “Steph, I can’t help but notice that you didn't ask a question.”

“I don't have any for [Max].” She replied. 

“Ok then.” Rachel exclaimed. “Thanks for uh- bearing with us today.” She gave Max a friendly pat on the back. 

Max smiles back at Rachel, “Thanks for uh- listening. And for being so cool about everything.” she said. 

“Did you expect us to become angry?” Victoria asked. 

“I guess I did. Lying is not something one should do to a friend.” Max replied. 

“Don’t even sweat it.” Warren assured. 

“Yeah, we understand why you did it.” Kate added.

“Thanks.” Max said softly. 

“Do you want to come drink tea with us? There’s this new place near Two Whales; amazing tea.” Kate invited Max. 

“Um- yeah. Sure, that sounds lovely.” Max replied. 

“Rachel?” Victoria asked her. “Want to come?” 

“Sorry, I got something I need to do.” she replied. 

“Aw. Steph, Chloe?” Victoria tried to invite more people. 

“I don’t drink tea.” Steph replied. 

“I’ll pass.” Chloe replied. 

“Well, looks like it's just us three.” said Victoria as they left the study room together. 

“Hey Warren, want to come?” he asked himself, mimicking Victoria’s voice. “Nah. I’m good. Thanks for the offer.” he replied to himself in his normal voice. He was heading out of the opposite door of the study room when suddenly Chloe hollered. 

“Hey, Warren.” 

“Yeah?” He turned around and saw Chloe get up, and scurried towards him. 

“Can I talk to you in private?” She asked, making sure that only he heard her. 

“Sure. What about?” he replied. 

“I’ll just- Let’s just go to the parking lot and talk.” Chloe answered. 

“A-alright.” he stammered. “Lead the way.” The two left the study room, leaving only Rachel and Steph inside. 

* * *

There was an awkward moment of silence. 

“If looks can kill, I’d be double dead right now.” Rachel sat where Max sat, “What the fuck is going on with you? You’ve been watching me the entire time like someone who’s trying to decipher the enigma code if it were written on my face.” she commented with an irate tone. 

“I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure of what I want to say.” Steph replied. 

“Well-,” Rachel got up, “-when you are, tell me. But for the meantime, please stop giving me that look like you’re about to hit me in the face” 

As Rachel got up, it seemed like everything was in slow motion. Steph spotted [Rachel’s] bracelet. The blue and black pattern; she’s seen it before, just a few minutes earlier. Her eyes widened at the realization, nay, confirmation. It was the same.... The same one Sam was wearing. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> about the new character, Sam O'Connor, I might introduce him in the next chapter or the next next.


End file.
